Would the conveyancing lawyers via your comparison service execute attended exchange conveyancing in Coney Hall?

We do have a number of conveyancing experts who can conduct attended exchanges. Do e-mail us to get a costs illustration and details as to dates.

We previously appointed conveyancers based in Coney Hall on the Virgin Money solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental fee for the legal aspects of the Virgin Money mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Virgin Money?

Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by Virgin Money but by your Coney Hall conveyancer. Numerous firms on the Virgin Money panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

I can not work out if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Coney Hall building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they will lend. My Coney Hall conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend based on their published requirements. I have no idea who is right.

The solicitor has to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

I have finally had an offer on a maisonette in Coney Hall accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have put an offer on somewhere, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other properties booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Coney Hall. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with RBS?

It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey, Coney Hall conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your lawyer is on the RBS approved list. Concerning the next phase this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many buyers would apply for a home loan with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with the conveyancing in Coney Hall.

I have been pointed in your direction by a number of property agents in Coney Hall to choose a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your services rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?

We refuse to offer any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Coney Hall. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Coney Hall - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Having spent years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coney Hall. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Coney Hall property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 50.57 years.

The property lawyers undertaking our conveyancing in Coney Hall has forwarded papers to review that show the land is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all houses in Coney Hall should be registered?

It is rare for property in Coney Hall not to be registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Many Coney Hall conveyancing practitioners will be capable of dealing with this type of conveyancing but where uncertainty prevails the prevailing guidance nowadays appears to be for the current owners to address the registration formalities first and thereafter deal with the transfer to the buyer - this undoubtedly result in a significant delay.