My wife and I are about to complete buying a house in Crystal Palace but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree reparation from the seller in the sum of £3k by way of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be addressed as part of amending the contract but are not allowing this. Why were they approached?

The being on a conveyancing panel is required to disclose to of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your to report the price change to then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, and you would have to appoint a new for your conveyancing in Crystal Palace.

How do I check that the solicitor handling my conveyancing in Crystal Palace is on the bank’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for thus spending £192.00 in further conveyancing invoice.

You should make use of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this page. Pick the mortgage company and type ‘Crystal Palace’ or your location and you will discover numerous solicitors offices in Crystal Palace or near you.

My wife and I purchased a terraced Edwardian house in Crystal Palace. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and . 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 with the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to read 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 Crystal Palace and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Crystal Palace I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Crystal Palace suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan that many years will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

I own a leasehold flat in Crystal Palace. Conveyancing and mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Crystal Palace who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Crystal Palace conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Crystal Palace, conveyancing was carried out in 1995. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Crystal Palace with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 50

With 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £36,100 and £41,800 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.