Please help. My Brompton solicitor is assuring me that he is legally obliged toapply for Brompton conveyancing searches resulting from the fact thatthe firm are on the Virgin Moneysolicitor panel. These Brompton searches cost a lot of money can this be avoided?
You have limited options available to you. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a lender your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your property lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Brompton conveyancing searches.
I own a terraced Victorian property in Brompton. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Brompton and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Brompton I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Brompton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
I was advised by a number of estate agents in Brompton to get a quote from a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over a competitor’s?
We don’t offer any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
My brother has suggested that I use his conveyancers in Brompton. Should I use them?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Brompton conveyancing lawyer the best way to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek feedback from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the conveyancer you're are thinking of instructing.
My fiance and I are planning to purchase a three room first floor flatin Brompton with a mortgage from a lender. We have a conveyancer in Brompton yet our bank advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the our bank panel firms or keep our Brompton conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that our lender use our Brompton lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The lender home loan offered to you is subject to conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the mortgage company's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had open panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Brompton : a mortgagee could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.