My partner’s step-father is a property lawyer. I suspect that I'll be able to get mate’s fee for conveyancing, However if that does not come through, what level of costs would I typically be looking at for conveyancing in Paddington?
Do compare pricing. Do use our search tool on this site. Whilst charges will be different but service levels do differ between conveyancers as is true with most professions.
We are selling our house in Paddington. Will the conveyancer need to be required to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nottingham conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently in recent years.
A relative advised me that where I am purchasing in Paddington I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Paddington conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Paddington around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Paddington.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Paddington. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Paddington and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Paddington I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Paddington suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage that many years may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.