I am selling my ground floor flat in Ardleigh Green and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major lender only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Ardleigh Green ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 years.
Lenders justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Ardleigh Green costs more?
Ardleigh Green leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving relevant notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
The Ardleigh Green conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my purchase in Ardleigh Green have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I needed a solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel and my preferred Ardleigh Green lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT in advance. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help.
is it true that all Ardleigh Green solicitor firms on the RBS conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the RBS conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be overseen by the CLC.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with RBS. Ardleigh Green conveyancing lawyers have been selected. How long does it take for RBS to issue the offer to the solicitor?
There is no definitive answer here. Have RBS conducted the survey? Have you informed RBS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the RBS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Ardleigh Green solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander 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. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Ardleigh Green postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Ardleigh Green.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one near me in Ardleigh Green I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Ardleigh Green suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Ardleigh Green. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Ardleigh Green - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Ardleigh Green. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Ardleigh Green conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Ardleigh Green residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.