Just been in touch with my conveyancing lawyer in Victoria Park who conducted the legals 18 months ago and wanted a conveyancing costs illustration based on the same type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold premises and a freehold property) of similar values with a home loan from Nationwide Building Society. I am now being quoted double. Am I right to be tempted to shop around for an alternative firm of conveyancing solicitor?

The estimate does seem a little overpriced. If you shop around you might decrease the fees slightly by perhaps £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, assuming were happy with the conveyancing the firm gave you couldlive to regret choosing an an unknown lawyer. Remember to ensure that the firm can also act for Nationwide Building Society. You can utilise our search tool to find a Victoria Park conveyancing firm on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Victoria Park.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Aldermore, do Victoria Park conveyancers have to pay an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

is it true that all Victoria Park solicitors on the Nottingham conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Nottingham approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be governed by the CLC.

We previously selected solicitors located in Victoria Park on the Co-operative solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further sum for dealing with the Co-operative mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Co-operative?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer may charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Co-operative but by your Victoria Park property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Co-operative panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.

I have justbeen informed that Wolstenholmes have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Victoria Park for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to see if the premises is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Victoria Park conveyancing specialists.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Victoria Park both have in the region of forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Victoria Park is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Victoria Park conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Victoria Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Does the lease include onerous restrictions? You should be aware if it is less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for a couple of years in order to be legally able to extend the lease. Make sure you discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example it is very common in Victoria Park leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Victoria Park. If you like the apartmentin Victoria Park but your dog can’t live with you then you will be presented with a hard choice.

How much experience do your Victoria Park conveyancing solicitors have with Help To Buy, Shared Equity and similar schemes?

Victoria Park conveyancing lawyers help thousands of people move home every year and supported plenty of clients through the Help To Buy scheme. The chances are that whatever makes your case unique Victoria Park conveyancers have worked on recent similar matters.