My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Cardiff Bay and have appointed a Cardiff Bay conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Cardiff Bay lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Cardiff Bay solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I'm the sole beneficiary of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Cardiff Bay. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in October. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this clause chiefly exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
I have paid off my mortgage with Kent Reliance. I assume I don't need a Cardiff Bay conveyancer on the Kent Reliance panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Kent Reliance mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Kent Reliance mortgage from the register. Kent Reliance, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Kent Reliance has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Kent Reliance has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in December 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, TSB are being a right pain. The Cardiff Bay solicitor who is on the TSB conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but TSB are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do TSB have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that TSB have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why TSB may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Cardiff Bay. Now, I need the files however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Cardiff Bay of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Cardiff Bay differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Cardiff Bay come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because new home sellers in Cardiff Bay typically buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Cardiff Bay or who has acted in the same development.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cardiff Bay from the point of view of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cardiff Bay can be bypassed where 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 buyers’ lawyers. The majority of landlords or managing agents in Cardiff Bay levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cardiff Bay. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. A minority of Cardiff Bay leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Cardiff Bay state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
Cardiff Bay Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? Can you inform me if there are any major works in the planning that could increase the maintenance charges? What prohibitions are there in the Cardiff Bay Lease?
A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in Cardiff Bay four years ago and was holding my title documents but has now closed – What can I do to get hold of these?
Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as most properties in Cardiff Bay are archived digitally at Land Registry. Should you need to show ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your property lawyer can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.