Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Ruislip?

If you are buying a property in Ruislip your solicitor will ask you put them with monies to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is as part of the purchase price then this should be asked for immediately ahead of contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.

Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Ruislip?

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Ruislip and Solicitor practices in Ruislip to choose from It is important to make clear that the two are regulated professionals specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. The two can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

We previously appointed conveyancers locally in Ruislip on the Yorkshire BS solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional fee for dealing with the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Yorkshire BS?

Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your property lawyer may charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your Ruislip lawyer. Some firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms incorporate it on their overall fee.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Ruislip. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Ruislip in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders will not grant a mortgage on this type of home.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Ruislip. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Ruislip both have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Ruislip is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 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 premises 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 Ruislip conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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.

I own a ground floor flat in Ruislip. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

if there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Ruislip premises is Flat 72 Queens Walk in January 2013. The Tribunals calculated the premium payable to be £22,090. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 53.26 years.

The solicitors conducting our conveyancing in Ruislip has sent documents to review that show the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Why is the property not currently recorded at HM Land Regsitry?

Although the vast majorities of properties in Ruislip are now registered with HM Land Registry there are still a few that are unregistered. Any property in Ruislip that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Ruislip property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Ruislip conveyancing solicitors will be familiar with such matters but if any uncertainty prevails the conventional guidance these days seems to be for the seller to register it first and then sell - this no doubt result in a significant delay.