My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a home in Merton and have appointed a Merton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Merton solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Merton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Merton. My lender is Platform

Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 8/5/2024, the requirements read as follows :

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one close by in Merton I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Merton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £300,000 apartment in Merton in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Merton?

Merton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in fees being invoiced by management companies :

Addressing pre-contract enquiries Where consent is required before sale in Merton Supplying insurance information Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Merton leasehold premises is £350. For Merton conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Merton - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

How long is the Lease? This question is important as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have full disclosure Please note that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Mertonlease extensions you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.

My father completed his conveyancing in Merton 9 years ago. He has since got wed, divorced and in recent months got married again. He now intends to the sell the Merton property. I believe he will simply be asked to supply copies of his marriage certificates to the solicitor but he is anxious it will frustrate the conveyancing. Is it worth updating the Land Registry details for the house?

You are not required to update the register on the basis that you have the proof required to demonstrate how the name change resulted.

The purchaser’s conveyancer will review the registered details and ask for evidence to prove the name change e.g. marriage documentation.