I am not well enough to travel far from Cowley. What is the rationale as to why all Cowley property lawyers are not on all bank panels?
Before the recession most banks exhibited an approach to risk which differs from the current day. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 conducted a thematic review into property fraud which concluded: know the property lawyers on your panel. As a result, mortgage companies have since looked to extract more data from law firms concerning their operations and the staff employed by them and set certain criteria such as completing a minimum volume of transactions. Hundreds of firms have been removed from lender panels even though they had 100% healthy track record, no complaints and zero claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Many firms were never going to satisfy the criteria of amount of transactions the lenders set.
Me and my partner are purchasing a flat in Cowley. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we will need to put money into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as HSBC, do Cowley conveyancing practitioners incur an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I'm spending time looking at apartments in Cowley and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with HSBC.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Me and my brother own a renovated Victorian property in Cowley. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cowley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few selling agents in Cowley to select a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above a competitor’s?
We don’t give any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Last August I purchased a leasehold flat in Cowley. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Cowley. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a absentee landlord 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 determine the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Cowley property is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 69 years.