Our grandson is purchasing a new build apartment in Bristol with a mortgage from Yorkshire BS. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Are the Bristol conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Skipton conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Skipton?
Bristol conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Skipton directly.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Bristol. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Bristol?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Bristol. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you should be called to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.
We are purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Bristol. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will the conveyancing process include enquiries to ascertain if these works are permitted?
Your property lawyer will review the registered title as conveyancing in Bristol can occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which prevent categories of works or necessitated the permission of another owner. Certain extensions require local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be sensible to check these issues with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
Intending to buy a apartment in Bristol. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Bristol lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.
The deeds to my house are lost. The lawyers who dealt with the conveyancing in Bristol 10 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
Assuming you have a registered title the details of your ownership will be retained by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and get up to date copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Bristol is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Bristol are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Bristol you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bristol may decide 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.
My 20yr old son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. One the seller agreed the offer on the house we contacted the mortgage company to issue the formal offer. I was shocked to learn that banks do not accept all property lawyer, they need to be on their approved list, is this right?
Lenders ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Bristol property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.