Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Barnes. My lender is Tesco Bank

Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 5/5/2024, the requirements read as follows :

I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Barnes. I now require my file but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Barnes of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

My father has encouraged me to appoint his conveyancing solicitors in Barnes. Should I use them?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Barnes conveyancing lawyer the best way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have previously instructed the conveyancer that you are are thinking of instructing.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Barnes with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barnes can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
A minority of Barnes leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Barnes leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand. If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 as opposed to unresolved.

I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Barnes. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Barnes flat is 25 Petley Road in February 2010. The Tribunal determined that the price payable for the freehold of the subject premises should be £18,760. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 156.6 years and 66.6 years.

Builders have put forward a conveyancer and I've obtained a quote from them. It's nearly £300 less expensive than my preferred Barnes lawyer. What's the catch?

Builders often have lists of conveyancers who expedite matters and who know the developer’s paperwork and conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of developers offer an incentive to select a preferred solicitor for this reason, any increased fees can be avoided and a builder won't put forward a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the conveyancing stall when they require an exchange inside a month. The argument for not agreeing to use the recommended conveyancing practitioner is that they may prove reluctant to fight for your interests for fear of alienating the housebuilder. If you worry that this may be the case you should stick with your local Barnes property lawyer.