How to feel sure for your conveyancer?

xpi

Hi

We are searching for the person who can do conveyancing for our house purchase. The purchase involves also the following: (1) lease extension on completion (2) ensure tenants currently living in the flat will move out; The rest looks like the standard purchase.

Do we need our conveyancer any qualification / licence for that? I see that there are licensed solicitors, licensed conveyancers and I suggest other options including people without any license. Does it matter if we don't find any license for our conveyancer?

Are there any sources of information to get a review about the chosen person except random googling? I was thinking we may ask a recommendation from the previous client. However it will require (1) contacts of the client (2) proof of purchase with that conveyancer. I don't know how we could (a) convince the solicitor (b) find anything in open sources for that..

I may look too paranoid, but it looks like we are not the only one who struggles to find the right person.

Thank you!

nubbins

Usually word of mouth. I last used RMNJ who were not too bad or have a look at https://www.reallymoving.com.

They days they do not need to be local.

eddddy

xpi wrote: »

(1) lease extension on completion (2) ensure tenants currently living in the flat will move out;

You will probably need legal advice on these things, so I would tend to use a property solicitor (rather than a licensed conveyancer).


(2) is fairly straightforward - most conveyancing solicitors should be able to advise you on that. (But bear in mind, if the tenants are difficult and don't want to go - you might be waiting up to 6 months or more for them to be evicted, before you can proceed with the purchase.)

(1) is a little more complicated. It's probably an informal lease extension. So you need professional advice to confirm that it's a 'good' lease extension, and that the price is fair.

In my experience, solicitors aren't experienced in valuing lease extensions. In your position, I would seek advice from a specialist lease extension valuer.

xpi

(1) is a little more complicated. It's probably an informal lease extension. So you need professional advice to confirm that it's a 'good' lease extension, and that the price is fair.

The vendor did received the quote. Do you mean there is no legal document which we can request to prove that the least extension price was given correctly? We have indirect confirmation from general internet services that also suggested the similar amount. Does the price variates highly and such services could be badly wrong?

eddddy

xpi wrote: »

The vendor did received the quote. Do you mean there is no legal document which we can request to prove that the least extension price was given correctly? We have indirect confirmation from general internet services that also suggested the similar amount. Does the price variates highly and such services could be badly wrong?

If it's an informal lease extension, the freeholder can quote any price they like - they could ask for £1,000 or £100,000. (There is no concept of a legal document.)

The very important things to check are the ground rent and additional term.

The online internet lease extension calculators assume that the ground rent is dropping to zero (a peppercorn), and the lease term is being extended by 90 years.

If that's what the freeholder is offering, it's a fair comparison


But If the ground rent isn't dropping to zero (a peppercorn), or even worse, if the ground rent will increase - you need to take specialist advice before proceeding.

xpi

We have just tried the company which says: "CompanyName will introduce you to a solicitor to complete the conveyancing service for you". However the person they provided to us is neither a licensed conveyancer nor an SRA solicitor. (sounds like the broke the terms and services for me!). Just a person who does conveyancing for a bunch of years. I really don't understand what are my risks in this case?

eddddy, regarding to your words we can have a bad lease extension. However I can check the ground rent and the additional term.

Is there smth else that we may have an issue with?

Thank you!