I am selling my flat in Cippenham and the EA has just called to warn that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Cippenham ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Banks blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
How up to date is your database of Cippenham solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel? Do UBS send you an updated list?
Cippenham conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the UBS conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from UBS directly.
My fiance and I are hoping to buy a newly converted apartment in Cippenham with a mortgage from Barclays .We use our Cippenham conveyancing lawyer but Barclays says her practice is not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Barclays panel lawyer or keep our high street solicitor and fork out for a Barclays panel lawyer to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the Barclays approved list. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays
Just bought a terraced house in Cippenham , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to record my proprietorship? My Cippenham conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to be certain that my purchase is recorded.
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Cippenham registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry need to notify any 3rd parties. As of today in the region of 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive delays. Historically registration occurs after the new owner is living at the property thus an expedited registration is not always an essential issue yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
Should I go with a Cippenham conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? An old friend can deal with the legal formalities however his firm is located 400miles away.
The benefit of a high street Cippenham conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local Cippenham know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and on the whole were impressed that should trump using an unfamiliar Cippenham conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Cippenham based.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Cippenham which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.
I bought a garden flat in Cippenham, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Cippenham with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2093
With just 67 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.