Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Kingsdown costs more?

In summary, leasehold conveyancing in Kingsdown and elsewhere usually necessitates more hours of investigation compared to freehold conveyancing. This includes analysing the lease terms, liaising with the landlord about the service of required notices, procuring up-to-date service charge and management information, procuring the freeholder’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first entered into.

I am selling my apartment in Kingsdown. Does the property lawyer have to be required to be on the RBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the RBS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently currently.

I'm the only beneficiary of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Kingsdown. The Kingsdown property was put into my name in June. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in June. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. Most banks would take a pragmatic view as this clause primarily exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of properties.

We have agreed to purchase a house in Kingsdown. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Coventry BS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with Coventry BS your lawyer must comply with the conveyancing instructions outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Coventry BS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Coventry BS where a lease fails to meet these requirements. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Kingsdown.

At last I have had an offer on a maisonette in Kingsdown accepted, the sellers do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The sellers have offered on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Kingsdown. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Coventry BS going?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Kingsdown conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must check that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. As to the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Coventry BS and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Kingsdown.

Just acquired a semi-detached house in Kingsdown , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to register the transfer to my name? My Kingsdown conveyancing solicitor has been painfully slow, so I want to be sure the post completion formalities are dealt with.

As far as conveyancing in Kingsdown registration is no faster or slower than the rest of England and Wales. Rather than based on location, timeframes can differ subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry have to notify any 3rd parties. As of today approximately three quarters of submission are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration is effected after the new owner is living at the premises thus registration formalities is not usually primary concern yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

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

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