My Conveyancer in Axminster is not on the Skipton Building Society Solicitor Panel. Can I still retain my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Skipton Building Society panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Axminster lawyers but Skipton Building Society will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing fees and result in frustration.
- Find an alternative lawyer to act in the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Skipton Building Society approved.
- Persuade your Skipton Building Society based solicitor to seek to join the Skipton Building Society panel
I'm the sole recipient of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Axminster. The Axminster property was put into my name in May. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in May. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this requirement primarily exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Axminster off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Nottingham. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
I have finally had an offer on an apartment in Axminster agreed to, the sellers do however have an associated purchase. The vendors have put an offer on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have selected a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Axminster. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with HSBC started?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Axminster conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must check that your solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of purchasers would apply for a home loan with HSBC and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their lawyer to move forward with searches.
A relative recommended that where I am purchasing in Axminster I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Axminster conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Axminster around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Axminster.
My husband and I are 14 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Axminster. I am am very dissatisfied with the quality of service. Could you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
A conveyancer would need to be very poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage been issued? If so you will need to inform them of the new contact details and have the mortgage documents are re-sent. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating fees and delays. That should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should help you find a bank approved solicitor for your home move in Axminster
Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Axminster. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Axminster who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Axminster conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Axminster, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Axminster with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2099
With just 74 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
My husband and I have recently had an offer accepted on a flat and had meeting on Monday with the Post Office for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to choosing a conveyancer that if they are not on their approved list of lawyers then we will be subject to an an additional fee of £200. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to appoint a property lawyer to act for them as well as the one we choose to act for ourselves and we will be on the hook for their fees. I have requested the Post Office to furnish me with a list so I can obtain estimates only from their approved conveyancers but was told that I need to check with each individual solicitor to see if they are on the panel. What would be the best way of going about this?
Ask the Post Office what their criteria for panel membership is for a solicitor.Then ask the conveyancer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for the Post Office historically. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with the Post Office. Another option is to utilise our search facility and we should be able to find you a solicitor in Axminster on the panel for the Post Office.