Do I choose a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Fulham?

There are two types of lawyers who can do conveyancing in Fulham namely licenced conveyancers or solicitors. Both professionals provide conveyancing services that required to complete the sale or acquisition of property. They are both required to perform Fulham conveyancing on similar standards and guidelines so you may be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be properly administered and that the requirements and steps should be accurately taken.

My partner and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Virgin Money as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in Fulham. Do we need to appoint a local Fulham solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Virgin Money do not ordinarily require 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 Virgin Money conveyancing panel.

I have a mortgage with Clydesdale for my property in Fulham. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Clydesdale?

You must advise Clydesdale prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Clydesdale’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Clydesdale directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Fulham. I now require my papers however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Fulham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am purchasing my first flat in Fulham benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the deal as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Fulham is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Fulham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Fulham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Fulham may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Fulham from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fulham can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Fulham conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved. Some Fulham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. Many freeholders or managing agents in Fulham levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fulham.

After years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Fulham. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Fulham conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Fulham property is 66 and 66a Wardo Avenue in November 2012. The Tribunal determined that the sum of £8,048 is payable by the Applicants in respect of the price for the freehold of the property This case related to 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 93 years and 162 years.