My husband and I are purchasing a newbuild apartment in Chinatown with a mortgage from Aldermore.We like our Chinatown conveyancing practitioner but Aldermore advised that he's not listed on their "panel". We have to appoint a Aldermore panel solicitor or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Aldermore use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you contains terms and conditions, a common one being that lawyers will be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Aldermore
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Co-operative as we wish to conduct renovations to our property in Chinatown. Do we need to choose a nearby Chinatown solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Co-operative do not ordinarily appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Kent Reliance. Is it usual for Kent Reliance to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Chinatown is approved on their conveyancing panel? Kent Reliance have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Kent Reliance to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Santander have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a house in Chinatown has been accepted, now what?
Your property agent will need to know who your solicitors are (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s approved list). Call up Santander or your broker and finalise any appropriate forms. Santander will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Santander will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Chinatown.
A colleague recommended that if I am buying in Chinatown I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Chinatown conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Chinatown around the property and the people living there. It incorporates 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 Property Price, Crime statistics, Chinatown Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Chinatown.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Chinatown?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Chinatown. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Chinatown basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Chinatown conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Chinatown do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.
After years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Chinatown. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chinatown conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Chinatown residence is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 73.92 years.