I am due to complete on the purchase of a property in Ascot but as a consequence of damage from the recent storms I have managed to agree recompense from the seller in the sum of £3k taking the form of a reduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of amending the contract but HSBC are not allowing this. Should they have been informed?
Your property lawyer that is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is duty bound to disclose to HSBC of any amendments to the sale price. If you prohibit your lawyer to disclose the reduction to HSBC then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, HSBC and you would have to appoint a new conveyancing practitioner for your conveyancing in Ascot.
The deeds to my house are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Ascot 10 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be held by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, find your house and get up to date copies of the property title for a small fee. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for a small fee.
I am purchasing a new build house in Ascot with a loan from Chelsea Building Society. The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my solicitor about this extras as it may jeopardize my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Ascot I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ascot suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you need a mortgage that many years may be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months 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 lawyer concerning this.
I am looking for a conveyancing solicitor in Ascot for my house move. Can I review a firm’s complaints history with the profession’s regulator?
One can read presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's record, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor call for training reasons.
My wife and I are buying a first floor flat in Ascot. At the point of instructing our conveyancing practitioner, they assured us that they were on all major UK lender panels. Our financial adviser called today to say that they are not on the Coventry BS approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Do we simply pick a different lawyer that is on their panel or should we cover the costs for separate representation, with Coventry BS selecting their own preferred property lawyer.
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the buyer’s solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a solicitor has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the property lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the conveyancing practitioner has to satisfy. Some banks now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your conveyancer should contact Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Ascot solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.