My fiance and I are hoping to buy a flat in Castle Eden and are in fact using a Castle Eden conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Bank of Ireland have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Castle Eden solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Castle Eden solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Do lawyers request money up-front when it comes to conveyancing in Castle Eden?
If you are buying a property in Castle Eden your lawyer will ask you place them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Generally this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the purchase price then this will be needed shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days ahead of the day of completion.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Castle Eden off the council. I have a mortgage offer with UBS. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with UBS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel.
It is not clear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my Castle Eden bank branch on a couple of occasions and was informed it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My Castle Eden conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the solicitor is on the mortgage company approved list, she or he must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook specifications for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company 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 bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Nationwide are being difficult. The Castle Eden solicitor who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Nationwide are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Nationwide have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nationwide have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nationwide 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.
My relative suggested that if I am buying in Castle Eden I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Castle Eden conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Castle Eden around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Castle Eden Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Castle Eden.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Castle Eden I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Castle Eden in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
Given that I will soon spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Castle Eden I would like to talk to a lawyer about myhouse move before appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?
This is something that we recommend - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the solicitor due to be conducting your property ownership legalities in Castle Eden.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for residential conveyancing in Castle Eden should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.