Our Bideford lawyer has discovered a discrepancy between the assumptions in the valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My lawyer says that he must ensure that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my solicitor’s approach appropriate?
Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.
Completed the sale of my flat in Bideford last November but my buyer keeps calling me to say her solicitor needs to hear from mysolicitor. What should have happened following completion?
Following your sale your solicitor should forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's solicitors. Where relevant, your solicitor should also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been repaid to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion formalities unique to conveyancing in Bideford.
Please help - my lawyer advises that missing deeds insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Bideford?
The appropriate level of missing deeds indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Halifax and Virgin Money. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
Is it the case that all Bideford solicitor practices on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Bank of Ireland approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be overseen by the CLC.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Coventry BS. Bideford conveyancing lawyers have been chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Coventry BS?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Coventry BS completed the valuation? Have you advised Coventry BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Bideford took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. 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.
Taking into account that I will soon spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Bideford I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thetransaction prior to giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the conveyancer due to be conducting your conveyancing in Bideford.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a file number. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Bideford should be the figure that you end up paying.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bideford from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bideford can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Bideford home move. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. A minority of Bideford leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.
I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Bideford, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Bideford with a long lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2102
With only 76 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.