My property lawyer in Sydenham has never been on on the Chelsea Building Society Approved Panel. Can I still retain my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Chelsea Building Society panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your preferred Sydenham lawyers but Chelsea Building Society will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional total legal fees and result in frustration.
- Choose a new lawyer to to deal with the purchase, remembering to check they are on the Chelsea Building Society panel
We had chosen conveyancing lawyers located in Sydenham on the Co-operative solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further sum for handling the Co-operative mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Co-operative?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner may levy a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Co-operative but by your Sydenham lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Co-operative panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Barclays. Sydenham conveyancing practitioners are appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Barclays?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Barclays conducted the valuation? Have you informed Barclays as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Barclays conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, TSB are being a right pain. The Sydenham solicitor who is on the TSB conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but TSB are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do TSB have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that TSB have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why TSB may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My wife and I own a renovated Victorian house in Sydenham. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Sydenham and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Sydenham is the location of the property. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Sydenham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Sydenham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Sydenham may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham with the intention of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers’ lawyers. The majority of landlords or managing agents in Sydenham levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Sydenham home move. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Sydenham state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand. If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Sydenham conveyancing firm to help?
Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Sydenham flat is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.04 years.