My fiance and I are looking to acquire a flat in Caddington and are in fact using a Caddington conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Caddington conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Caddington solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Caddington. I need to find out whether they are accepted on the Leeds Building Society approved list of lawyers. Could you or the lender confirm if they are on the panel?
You should call your lawyer and enquire if they are on the lender panel. Alternatively you should get in touch with Leeds Building Society who may be able to help.
What will a local search reveal concerning the property my wife and I buying in Caddington?
Caddington conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as PSG The local search plays an important part in most Caddington conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your new home. The search will supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Caddington. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Caddington of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Caddington prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to issue a mortgage on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Caddington. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Caddington from the point of view of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Caddington can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Caddington home move. If a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.
Caddington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying
-
Make sure you enquire if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Caddington leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Caddington. If you like the propertyin Caddington but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard decision. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Who are the managing agents?