My lawyer has identified a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Aberystwyth. The other side have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer says that he must check that the bank is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Aberystwyth?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Aberystwyth your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. Normally this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the sale price then this should be asked for shortly in advance of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.
3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Aberystwyth concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Aberystwyth I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Aberystwyth suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a home loan that many years will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Aberystwyth to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to promote your site ahead of a competitor’s?
We don’t make any referral fee for sending work our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Our conveyancing solicitor in Aberystwyth is asking me for ID documents saying that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not specific to conveyancing in Aberystwyth