Our grandson is buying a newly built flat in North Kensington with a home loan from Leeds Building Society. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

How do I use your search app to choose a conveyancing solicitor in North Kensington on the panel for my lender?

First select a mortgage company such as Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society or Barclays Direct then type in your location for example North Kensington. Conveyancing practices in North Kensington and beyond will then be shown.

Am I better off to instruct a North Kensington conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? An old friend can handle the legal work however her office is over three hundred miles drive away.

The primary upside of using a high street North Kensington conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to sign paperwork, deliver your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local North Kensington know how is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that must surpass using an unfamiliar North Kensington conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being local.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in North Kensington both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in North Kensington is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with North Kensington conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in North Kensington. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a North Kensington property is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 37.79 years.

Finally our conveyancing in North Kensington completes on Friday, but the owners I am purchasing from wishes to vacate 24 hours later at PM. Can I accept such a plan?

You can't complete on a Saturday due to the bank systems are not operational.