I am purchasing a semi-detached house in Bruton. Conveyancing solicitors are said to be ‘a necessary evil’ but can I do it myself?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Bruton you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Bruton.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a first time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Bruton. Do I receive the keys to the premises on the completion date from my conveyancer? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Bruton?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.
Is it the case that all Bruton CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Santander conveyancing list of approved solicitors?
A selection of banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of firms.
I can not work out if my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Bruton bank branch on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Bruton conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Your conveyancing practitioner has to follow the CML Handbook section two conditions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
We are intent on selling our house in Bruton and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street Bruton conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a national conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Bruton. Having lived in Bruton for three years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to get clarification 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 life insurance to cover that same sickness)
How do I search for a Bruton solicitor on the Britannia conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am willing to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the search on this page. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Bruton conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some Bruton conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can contact them to verify if they are on the Britannia approved list
Last October I purchased a leasehold property in Bruton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. A critical element 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).
Bruton Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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If a Bruton lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the value of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most Brutonlease extensions you would be required to have owned the residence for 24 months in order to be legally able to extend the lease. Most Bruton leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the management company. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this charge, normally in instalments during the year. This can vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it could be surprisingly expensive. Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Bruton. If you like the apartmentin Bruton however your cat is not allowed to live with you then you have a very difficult choice.
I am an executor of my recently deceased aunt’s Will, with a property in Bruton which is to be sold. The bungalow has never been registered at HMLR and I'm advised that many estate agents will insist that it is completed before they will proceed. What's the procedure for this?
In the circumstances that you have set out it seems advisable to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and certified copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.