My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Angel and have instructed a Angel conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer 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 there is now an issue as our Angel solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where 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 lender 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Angel solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
is it true that all Angel solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the SRA. Many lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
The mortgage over my property is with UBS for my property in Angel. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform UBS?
You must advise UBS prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that UBS will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Angel solicitor - who is on the Skipton conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Skipton will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Skipton will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Angel surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Angel I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Angel for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the selling agent informed us that the owners will only issue a contract if we appoint their chosen conveyancers as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street conveyancer who is accustomed to conveyancing in Angel
We suspect that the owner is not behind this ultimatum. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to instruct your preferred Angel conveyancing firm - not the ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds pre-set by corporate headquarters.
Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Angel. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Angel should include some of the following:
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You should have a good understanding of the building insurance provisions The unexpired lease term. You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years Where does the liability rest to repair and maintain the block. It is essential that you know who is duty bound to repair and maintenance of every part of the building You need to be informed what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Angel. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Angel conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Angel premises is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case related to 4 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 98 years.
Our conveyancing in Angel is completing on Friday, but the owners I am purchasing from wants to vacate 24 hours later at noon. Can I accept such a plan?
In situations where you require a bank loan then your lawyer will demand that the premises arevacant on Friday - the bank will compel it.