My husband and I are buying a new build flat in Alperton and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to the lender to reveal incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and I would rather not prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
We note that you have a post code search directory identifying law firms on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Alperton?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Alperton.
My friend advised me that if I am buying in Alperton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Alperton conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Alperton around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Alperton Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Alperton.
Am I right to be wary by brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting an online conveyancing firm rather than a local Alperton conveyancing company?
As with many professional services, often suggestions from relatives can be very helpful. But there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may suggest solicitors to select. Sometimes these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but sometimes there might be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are free to select your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that many mortgage providers operate an approved list of law firms you have to use for the mortgage aspect of your transaction.
Last August I purchased a leasehold flat in Alperton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
After months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Alperton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Alperton property is 99 Connell Crescent in May 2013. the Tribunal held that the relevant sum for the purposes of the lease extension should be £72,566 to be paid by the leaseholder This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 28.42 years.