Unfortunately I am unable to travel far from Catton. Please clarify why all Catton property lawyers are not on all bank panels?
Lenders normally restrict either the type or volume of conveyancing practices on their panel. Frequent examples of such restriction(s) being that a organisation is required to have at least two partners. In addition to restricting the nature of firm, some banks made a decision to limit the number of organisations they permit to represent them. You should note that banks have no accountability for the standard of conveyancing supplied by any Catton lawyer on their approved list. Increases in mortgage fraud was the main trigger for the reduction of conveyancing panels a few years ago notwithstanding that there are differing views about whether solicitors sat at the center of that fraud. Statistics via HMLR reveal that thousands of conveyancing practices only transact less than three conveyances annually. Those supporting conveyancing panel culls question why conveyancing firms should have claim to be on a bank panel when it is evident that conveyancing is not their primary expertise?
The Catton conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Catton have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I needed a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my preferred Catton lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays 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 lawyers should be in a position to assist.
When it comes to lenders such as Nottingham, do Catton conveyancers have to pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We are getting the release of further monies on our home loan from HSBC as we wish to carry out renovations to our property in Catton. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Catton solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
HSBC would not normally appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the HSBC list.
The mortgage over my property is with Virgin Money for my property in Catton. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
You must advise Virgin Money before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. You need not do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel lawyer.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Catton?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Catton. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent has warned us that the seller will only go ahead if we appoint their preferred conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Catton
We suspect that the owner is unaware of this request. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is going to damage their objectives. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your own,trusted Catton conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthe ones that will earn their estate agent a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds pre-set by senior management.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Catton where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Catton conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
I acquired a 1st floor flat in Catton, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Catton with a long lease are worth £191,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2078
With only 53 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.