AssumingI were to buy a freehold homein Birmingham for cash and dispense with a survey and no local authority searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Birmingham?
The sole saving you would make on is the disbursement for searches. Your lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, liaising with your sellers conveyancer, SDLT submission, register the property etc. A marginal saving might be made by not having to register a charge but it won't be a lot.
Do all mortgage companies provide you with an approved list of Birmingham conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel?
Birmingham conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Bank of Ireland directly.
The Birmingham conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Birmingham have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my previous Birmingham lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Co-operative 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 lawyers may be able to help.
We are downsizing from our home in Birmingham and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a factory type conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Birmingham. Having lived in Birmingham for 4 years we know of no issue. Should we contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Birmingham. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Barclays Direct. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Birmingham and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Birmingham is the location of the property. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Birmingham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Birmingham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Birmingham may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.