I am in need of a conveyancer. Should I go for for an online conveyancer or a high street Hyde Park conveyancing lawyer?

In the main conveyancing practitioners in your area will have excellent connections with your local authority, which could help with your Hyde Park conveyancing searches that your lawyer will need to carry out. It can only be a plus if they enjoy strong rapport with the Land Registry covering your area Hyde Park, other property lawyers in the location and Hyde Park property agents.

We're in Hyde Park, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Bank of Ireland , and our solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Hyde Park ahead of instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to issue a loan on a flying freehold home.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can investigate further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Hyde Park. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Hyde Park to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

I was pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Hyde Park to find a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your site over a competitor’s?

We refuse to offer any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

I own a leasehold house in Hyde Park. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Hyde Park who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Hyde Park conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Hyde Park Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Hyde Parklease extensions you would need to own the premises for two years in order to be entitled to extend the lease. In the main the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Hyde Park ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger works. Be sure to find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Hyde Park. If you love the apartmentin Hyde Park but your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard determination.