The sellers of the house we are hoping to buy are using a conveyancing practitioner in Cambridge who has suggested a lock out contract with a non-refundable deposit of 5k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
Lock out contracts are agreements binding a home seller and purchaser granting the buyer exclusive rights to the sale of the property for a set period of time. For all intents and purposes, an exclusivity is a document specifying that you will be issued with a contract at a later date which is the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer confidence though in some cases, the proprietor may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are many positives and negatives to using them but you need to check with your solicitor but beware that it may end up costing you extra in conveyancing charges. For these reasons these contracts are unusual in relation to conveyancing in Cambridge.
The Cambridge conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Cambridge have without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel and my family Cambridge lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Santander conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
My partner and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Cambridge and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Cambridge conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Cambridge. We have lived in Cambridge for many years we know of no issue. Do 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. Are they able to advise? 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 illness)
five months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Cambridge concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Cambridge is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Cambridge are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Cambridge you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Cambridge may ascertain 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 residence.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Cambridge for my home move. Can I see a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?
You can read published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor telephone calls for training purposes.