Find a Lender-Approved Local Conveyancer in Andover

My fiance and I are hoping to buy a property in Andover and have appointed a Andover conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Virgin Money have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Andover solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Andover lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

Our son-in-law is purchasing a house that has just been built in Andover with a mortgage from Skipton. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?

The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Skipton conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer 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 Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

I have been told that property searches are the primary reason for delay in Andover conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Andover.

I purchased a terraced Georgian house in Andover. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to review 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 Andover and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

I'm buying a new build house in Andover benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my lawyer about the deal as it may jeopardize my loan with Barclays Direct. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £350,000 flat in Andover in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Andover?

Andover conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times involves administration charges raised by management companies :

Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions Where consent is required before sale in Andover Copies of the building insurance and schedule Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Andover leasehold premises is £350. For Andover conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

I bought a leasehold flat in Andover, conveyancing having been completed August 2012. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Andover with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2093

With 68 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.