Should conveyancers request money up-front for conveyancing in Westbourne?

If you are buying a property in Westbourne your lawyer will ask you put them with funds 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 total price then this will be required shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is due will be payable shortly before completion.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as RBS, do Westbourne solicitors have to pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

Is it the case that all Westbourne solicitor practices on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Some banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be overseen by the CLC.

I had an offer accepted on a property in Westbourne on 9/8/2023, valuation was booked 4 days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to UBS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for UBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the UBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Westbourne I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Westbourne for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?

If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Westbourne. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Westbourne.

Westbourne Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Plenty Westbourne leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced by the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, normally in instalments accross the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check it because on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive. How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other significant cost is anticipated that will be shared by the leaseholders and will materially increase the the maintenance fees or necessitate a specific payment.

We are in the midst of a leasehold sale of a flat in Westbourne. Conveyancing solicitors are doing their job but we are being charged a fortune by the freeholder. To date we have forked out £225 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £134.40 for supplemental questions raised by the buyers solicitor.

Neither you or your conveyancing practitioner will have any sway over the extent of the fee for this information however the typical costs for the information for Westbourne leasehold property is £380. When it comes to Westbourne conveyancing sales it is usual for the vendor to pay for these charges. The freeholder or their agents are under no statutory obligation to address such questions most will be content to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices disproportionate to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that mandates capped fees for administrative tasks. There is no prescriptive time frame by which they are obliged to issue answers.