My fiance and I are looking to purchase a home in Albany Park and are in fact using a Albany Park conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Alliance & Leicester have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Albany Park conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Albany Park solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
This question may be naive but I am new to the process as a 1st time buyer of a ground floor flat in Albany Park. Do I receive the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Albany Park?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be called to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens early afternoon.
I am due to move house in September. Does my conveyancing solicitor communicate with the removal company on the day of completion. On a separate note, can you put forward a removal company in Albany Park. Conveyancing solicitor was found prior to coming across this site.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to pick up the keys from the estate agent however this can only happen once the previous owners solicitors advise the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be collected. You will need to tell the removal company that you are ready to move in. We do not recommend a particular removal organisation but can assist you in finding a residential property solicitor in Albany Park or a firm that specialises in conveyancing in Albany Park.
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, TSB are being difficult. The Albany Park solicitor who is on the TSB conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but TSB are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do TSB have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that TSB have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why TSB may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
A colleague suggested that where I am purchasing in Albany Park I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Albany Park conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Albany Park around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Albany Park Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Albany Park.
I purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Albany Park. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Bank of Scotland to clarify?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Albany Park and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.
How does conveyancing in Albany Park differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Albany Park come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is finished. This is because house builders in Albany Park usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Albany Park or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Albany Park ahead of instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor has said that some banks tend refuse to issue a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. If you call us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Albany Park. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.