My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Osterley and have instructed a Osterley conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Osterley solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Osterley solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My son-in-law is buying a new build apartment in Osterley with a home loan from Aldermore. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
When can the exchange of contracts take place for domestic conveyancing in Osterley and do I need to attend the conveyancers branch?
If you are round the corner to our conveyancing solicitors in Osterley you are invited in to sign the paperwork. However, the firms we work with supply a nationwide conveyancing service and give as equally detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the contract is not the important part. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to officially exchange when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Osterley)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Osterley is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Osterley are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Osterley you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Osterley 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 property.
In what way does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business property in Osterley and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to provides security of tenure to business leaseholders, granting the a statutory right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds where a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complex. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Osterley is one of the many areas of the UK in which the firms we work with have offices