My wife and I are looking to acquire a house in Clayton-le-Moors and have appointed a Clayton-le-Moors conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Clayton-le-Moors solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Clayton-le-Moors solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We intend to purchase a newly converted flat in Clayton-le-Moors with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society.We have a Clayton-le-Moors conveyancing lawyer but Nationwide Building Society advised that her practice is not listed on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a Nationwide Building Society panel solicitor or retain our local solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Nationwide Building Society use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that solicitors must be on the Nationwide Building Society solicitor panel. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms 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. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Nationwide Building Society
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Clydesdale as we want to conduct a loft conversion to our property in Clayton-le-Moors. Do we need to choose a high street Clayton-le-Moors solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Clydesdale do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Clydesdale panel.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Barclays. Clayton-le-Moors conveyancing lawyers are appointed. How long does it take for Barclays to send the offer to the conveyancer?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Barclays done the valuation? Have you advised Barclays as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Barclays conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
The mortgage over my property is with Bank of Ireland for my property in Clayton-le-Moors. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
Bank of Ireland must be informed of your intention prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Bank of Ireland directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.
It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in Clayton-le-Moors completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Clayton-le-Moors is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Clayton-le-Moors are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Clayton-le-Moors you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Clayton-le-Moors may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Clayton-le-Moors from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Clayton-le-Moors can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ lawyers. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Clayton-le-Moors home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity. A minority of Clayton-le-Moors leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
I own a 1 bedroom flat in Clayton-le-Moors, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Clayton-le-Moors with an extended lease are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079
With just 53 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.