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Hi all, I have been in property for 3 years. The model for my company has been flips (buy, refurb/extend, sell). I am taking the next step and getting into ground-up developments. I have purchased land with planning permission for a single dwelling and all conditions have been discharged. The conveyancing is about to start. I wanted to check if I should go for all of the regular searches or stick to just the local search? It's my understanding that the environmental search will be just a waste based on the circumstances listed above. There are no lenders involved, as it'll be a cash purchases and development funded by company cash. Looking forward to receiving opinions. Thanks in advance.

I've not had a great experience with a solicitor for my first purchase of a leasehold flat with a share of freehold. I have had issues with the lack of attention to detail, passive approach to following up on items and "finding out very late" that things haven't been done by the sellers solicitor, and I have had poor clarity of advice being given given (often verbal) and not in writing. I also the solicitor choose the "easy" path rather than the "right path" i.e. I have to rely on pre-contract replies to omissions on the lease rather than correct draft mistakes in the lease, it appears there is lack of "clout" and a reluctance to point our errors and see them through to resolution and a reluctance to validate status of issues being resolved. When I selected my solicitor, I selected them being because the conveyancing firm had strong and recent evidence of positive responses as an individual and a company on Trust Pilot. I didn't choose the cheapest solicitor and I could see they have had over 7 years of post qualification experience on the Law Society website. I also spoke to the "consultant" solicitor and was pleased to know there was secretarial support for the conveyancer. Nonetheless, I have found it hard to contact her subsequently on the phone to get updates and I also get updates other than "we are waiting for the sellers solicitor". I didn't have any personal recommendations. So what could I do differently next time I purchase a property - any different approaches?

Hi, Can anyone help, looking to make what will be our first purchase from auction, bid on a few in the past but not been successful. I'll be using bridging finance which shouldn't be a problem but its the legals I'm not sure on. The property in question isn't totally straightforward as its been added to over the years. I have access to all the legal docs but to the untrained eye it doesn't mean an awful lot. What I need to be sure of, before I purchase, is that the property legals are in order and it will be fully mortgage-able when developed and good for immediate short term bridging finance. Is it just a case of approaching a solicitor and asking them for some advice, maybe paying up front with a view to using them if the purchase is successful? I'd be interested to know how others approach this. The bidding will be competitive so I'm keen not to spend a fortune before I even know if I'm going to be successful. TIA...

Hi everyone, I’m new to the forum and I’ve just hit my first stumbling block during Covid-19. I’m in the process of acquiring my first off-plan property and the property lawyers I’m using have just emailed me to say they are ceasing trading at the end of June. I paid the full fee for their services up front and they have completed the initial exchange of contract and deposit transactions. The rest of their services would have been used nearing completion which now obviously won’t be done. Has anyone been in this situation before and do you have any advice for me/things to watch out for so that I don’t run into any problems going forward? I know I will have to get another property lawyer to continue with the purchase and that they should be able to use the details from my file with the original lawyer. I’m wondering what money/refunds and I am entitled to as all the services I have paid for haven’t been completed. Thanks in advance Rob

Hi, Just a quick query and hopefully someone can help. I currently have a dispute with a developer in which they are claiming the boundaries are in the incorrect location. Looking at my title deed plan the redline boundary relates to physical features on the ground and therefore looks to be correct. The developer is now producing the TP1 plan which does not line through with the title deed plan (i.e Fencelines, House Location, Garage Sizeare different sizes and positions) But they are claiming that the measurements from the TP1 conveyancing plan (which the original does not have any dimensions on) will be used to correct the boundary issue. Does anyone have any guidance or documentation which shows whether the title deed plan supersedes the TP1 plan? Thanks,

Good evening. I completed on a property last week and have today received a letter about chancel repair liability and insurance. I will attach the letter and if anybody could shed some light before I speak to the legal team I would greatly appreciate it. I thought it was/to cover any church or parish within the area, but having read the searches/land regs it stated the property doesn’t fall within any parish/church. I could of got this all wrong and it could be a simply answer/solution but I have never had a letter regarding this before. Kind regards jase

Hi, Could somebody please reccomend a good, effcient solicitor in the Merseyside area? One that does not drag there feet with the conveyancing paperwork. Many thanks. Darren

Hi, some quick advice/recommendation. I always like to use 'comparison' websites, for pretty much anything that i want a quote for i.e. car insurance, mortgage rates etc - it gives me a good starting point. The one thing i cant seem to find is a quote comparison site specifically for the conveyancing of a BTL purchase under a Ltd Company?? is this because the charges/cost for conveyancing is no different whether it is in a personal name or a ltd company? im assuming there will be slightly more legal work required, but surely not that much? Should i only ever choose from the lenders approved list of conveyancer's? is there a reason that people would ever choose someone that isn't on the 'list'? Would appreciate peoples view? Many Thanks

Hi Folks A quick question regarding transfer of a privately owned property into a LTD company. The property I want to transfer is without any mortgage so I guess that all that remains to be done is for a solicitor to register the property in the company's name at the land registry office. Has anyone done this before? Any idea how much I should budget for? And also when it comes to the stamp duty, will I have to pay for a valuation? and what stage of the process would I need to do this? I'm an 'accidental landlord', but now that the mortgage is fully paid off I'm looking to upscale using leverage to get a portfolio together and I don't want to get hammered by S24 further down the line, so am transferring my property to a LTD company. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi All, We are looking to buy our first property using our Ltd Co. that we have set up. We have found a property in need of refurb and we are looking to buy using bridging finance (we do have the cash to buy out right but prefer to use bridging), refurb and refinance later. We have gone to our usual solicitor who has worked for us on a few land and property deals before that have always been straight forward mortgages buying in our own names. However for the first time as a limited company their quote seems to have increased quite a bit (£1,500 +VAT + disbursements for searches etc) and 'guideline timeframe' is just not good enough for quick turnaround purchases. The only thing that is really different is that I said 'buying as a limited company' and 'bridging finance'! The house is only worth £50k. Can anyone recommend a conveyancing solicitor that is experienced in Limited Companies buying using bridging finance that have reasonable fees? Cheers, David.

Hi, Can anyone recommend a good conveyancing solicitor in or around the Hemel Hempstead area (Herts, Beds, Bucks) Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks, Richard

Good morning all, I'd like to hear from anyone who knows about title splitting concerning commercial properties that has residential on top. If an investor bought a freehold commercial unit with a flat then decided to sell each unit separately how you deal the title on the flat? I believe there are few options on how you deal with unit depending on whether you want to keep the freehold or not. In this scenario it would be if you want to sell all the units with the freeholds as well. The commercial unit would simply be sold as a freehold unit. Concerning the flat would you say it's best to create a lease then sell the lease and freehold separately? Of course I know a good solicitor will be needed to ensure the titles are prepared adequately. Just looking to hear from any here who may have knowledge and experience of this. Thanks

Hi forum members, I'm based in London but looking to invest in a BTL in manchester. Can anyone recommend a conveyancing solicitor based in the area? Many thanks

Hello all .. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of using online conveyancing providers ? I have seen a number of providers offer conveyancing in the region of £2/300 which is a appealing, but by nature, I'm a cynic, so wondering what others feelings are about this ? Thanks Regards Hemant

Could anyone provide any good recommendations for solicitors based in or close to the below locations who could take on conveyancing work for low value properties? Ealing Brent Cross Lambeth Wandsworth Hackney I run a growing company where we expect to refer approximately 70-80 sales per year onto solicitors. Our clients like the personal touch of being able to visit their solicitor so whilst I'm sure there are plenty of good firms in areas further away who could undertake duties by phone, e-mail etc, we do need firms who are based close to our clients. Sales are all on Compulsory Purchase terms where solicitors fees are paid by the buyer. If recommending a particular firm, please let me know whether you've just used them once or whether you repeatedly use them. If the firm of solicitors can also help Landlords with Section 21 notices etc, then even better. thanks Dan

Can anyone recommend a good conveyancer for a buy to let purchase within a limited company ? I am in the Northamptonshire area but I assume this makes no differences as firms would be able to act nationally ?

Hi Everyone I've had an offer accepted on a flat in Norwich. Does anyone have recommendations for solicitors in the area? Thanks for your suggestions regards, Chris

Hi, Question; does it matter if your conveyancing solicitor is based locally to the property being purchased? I would have thought local knowledge would be of benefit but not essential - their ability to perform effectively and proactively is probably much more important. Does anyone have any views on this? I am looking for a decent conveyancing solicitor to handle a purchase of a property, preferably located in the Surrey, Hants or West Sussex area, as that is is the area I live. Does anyone have any recommendations? Many thanks in advance Chris

Hi all. Sorry for the length of this and thanks in advance for reading - please excuse the grammer/spelling, I am writing this on my phone. I recently purchased a property at auction that was already tenanted. The legal pack contained an AST for 12 months from April 2015 with the tenants name and landlords names blanked out (a common occurrence in auction sales I am led to believe). I wanted to purchase the property due to it already being tenanted and yielding an income. When I viewed the property prior to auction I knocked on the door to view and it seemed the tenants weren't in. I proceeded anyway due to knowing what these properties are like inside (I own one already that backs onto this one) and, it had recently been renovated, the proof being; the auction catalogue spiel said so, the new electrical installation cert, new boiler and radiator installation receipt and double glazed window receipts, that were all included in the legal pack. The trouble I am having is that on completion I was not provide with the original AST or even an copy without the names blanked out. When I queried the solicitor as to whether they had a copy, they replied, No we didn't receive it from the vendor. Therefore I do not have any details about the tenant - not even their name. On completion i served the tenant with a Section 48 notice of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, telling the tenant who I was and my address along with a letter from me introducing myself and telling them to now pay their rent to me. The notice and a letter were sent recorded delivery but the tenants weren't in and they haven't collected the letter from royal mail as of yet, almost 2 weeks later. I have not been to the property yet as it is not close to where I live, however I will be making a trip up this weekend. My question is, should the solicitors have allowed me to complete even though they hadn't received originals of the AST? As it was part of the legal pack, be it a redacted copy, I thought it would have formed part of the contract and they should have had it before completing? I am beginning to think that there are no tenants at the property at all and the AST was fabricated to make the property look more attractive at auction. I will hopefully know tomorrow when I visit but was hoping for some advise and maybe some suggestions before then. Thanks