Will conveyancers ask for money on account for conveyancing in Bicester?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bicester your solicitor will ask you put them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is as part of the sale price then this will be asked for shortly before contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
My husband and I intend to purchase a newbuild apartment in Bicester with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society.We have a Bicester conveyancing solicitor but Chelsea Building Society says she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a Chelsea Building Society panel solicitor or retain our high street solicitor and pay for a Chelsea Building Society panel lawyer to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Chelsea Building Society use our lawyer?
No, not really. The loan offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that conveyancers needs to be on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Chelsea Building Society
We had selected conveyancing lawyers located in Bicester on the Nottingham solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me an additional amount for dealing with the Nottingham mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Nottingham?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor may levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Nottingham but by your Bicester property lawyer. Some firms on the Nottingham panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Bicester. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £200. Soon after, the conveyancer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the RBS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the RBS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I have instructed a Bicester conveyancing practitioner having checked that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative 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 property 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 Bicester postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Co-operative, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Bicester.
It has been 2 months since my purchase conveyancing in Bicester took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
How does conveyancing in Bicester differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Bicester approach us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because developers in Bicester tend to acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Bicester or who has acted in the same development.
I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Bicester. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
Some leases for properties in Bicester do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
I bought a studio flat in Bicester, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Bicester with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2103
You have 77 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £7,600 and £8,800 plus professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.