Completed the sale of my flat in Blackley last November yet the purchaser is calling every few hours to moan that their conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?
Following your sale your lawyer should send the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer must also confirm that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks just for conveyancing in Blackley.
We are selling our home in Blackley. Does my property lawyer need to be required to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.
My father pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Blackley there may be various restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Blackley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Blackley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
The mortgage over my property is with Nationwide for my property in Blackley. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nationwide?
You must advise Nationwide prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nationwide’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nationwide directly. You need not do this via a Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Blackley lawyer having made sure that they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds 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 solicitor 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 Blackley postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Blackley.
What can a local search tell me concerning the house I am purchasing in Blackley?
Blackley conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Searchflow The local search plays an important role in most Blackley conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Blackley?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Blackley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Blackley for my sale. Is it possible to see a solicitor's complaints history with the legal regulator?
Anyone can search for published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from inquisitions commenced on or after Jan 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For details about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.