My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Bolton and have appointed a Bolton conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Skipton Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Bolton conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bolton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Bolton and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. A high street Bolton lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Bolton. We have lived in Bolton for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You should 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 illness)
I have recentlybecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Bolton for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I check that my home is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest way to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Bolton conveyancing specialists.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Bolton is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in Bolton are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Bolton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bolton 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 property.
I am 18 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the local agent to do our conveyancing in Bolton. I am am starting to be dissatisfied with the level of service. Could you help me find new lawyers?
A conveyancer would have to be very bad in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage been issued? If so you must inform them of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are re-sent. Your solicitor ideally should be on the lenders panel to avoid added fees and delays. That should be your starting point. The search tool can assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Bolton
Last February I purchased a leasehold house in Bolton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a studio flat in Bolton, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Bolton with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2088
You have 63 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range 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 detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.