My wife and I are planning to purchase a house in Broadway and have instructed a Broadway conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Broadway lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Broadway solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for delay in Broadway house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Broadway.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Broadway. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Broadway
-
The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply a car parking plan. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease.
Am I better off to choose a Broadway conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can deal with the legal formalities but they are based 200miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Broadway conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local Broadway know how is a bonus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and in the main were happy that must outweigh using an unfamiliar Broadway conveyancing solicitor just because they are based in the area.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Broadway. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?
It best that you pay the invoice as normal given that all rents and maintenance charges should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Broadway Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing
-
What is the name of the managing agents? Its a good idea to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they can either make your living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters like the upkeep of the common parts. Don't be shy to ask other tenants whether they are happy with their service. Finally, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and precisely what you get for your money. What prohibitions are contained in the Broadway Lease?
My conveyancers in Broadway have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with the mortgage company. Is it case that being on the lender conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
Different lenders have different requirements but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the bank Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the bank directly.