My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a home in Chichester and are in fact using a Chichester conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Midshires have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Chichester conveyancer 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 usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Chichester solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
As a FTB what is the most important piece of guidance you can give me about purchase conveyancing in Chichester?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Chichester and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For example, the vendor, selling agent and even potentially the lender. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Chichester should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the transaction whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.
On occasion a third party with a vested interest will try and persuade you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the property agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your conveyancer is slow. Or your mortgage broker may try to convince you to do take action that is contrary to your lawyers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.
Our lender has recommended a law firm on their panel based in Chichester but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Chichester or nearer to where I live. Can you assist?
Far from all Chichester conveyancing practitioners are on all lender’s conveyancing panel. Do make the most of the above search tool to locate a Chichester conveyancing solicitor on the on the bank panel.
A friend suggested that where I am buying in Chichester I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Chichester conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Chichester around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Chichester Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Chichester Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Chichester.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Chichester with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it may put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the UK Finance website. UK Finance form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Chichester. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chichester should include some of the following:
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Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business specifics of the parties to the lease, e.g. these could be the (you), head lessor, freeholder You should receive a copy of the lease Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.For example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase? Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Chichester, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Chichester with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2103
With only 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £7,600 and £8,800 as well as legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.