My husband and I are planning to purchase a house in Conwy and have appointed a Conwy conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Clydesdale have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Conwy solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Conwy lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the home buying as a 1st time buyer of a ground floor flat in Conwy. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Conwy?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Conwy. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you will be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
Can you point me to a directory of Principality panel solicitors in Conwy on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few lenders make their panel listings visible over the internet. Where you are in need of a Conwy solicitor on the Principality please make the most of our facility.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Conwy. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
The deeds to my property can not be found. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Conwy 10 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?
Nowadays there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will be aware precisely where to find all the suitable documentation so you may purchase or sell your property without any difficulty. Where copies can’t be located, your solicitor can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on the property.
What tools are available to locate a Conwy law firm on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 20miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the tool on this website. Please pick a lender and your location and you will see a number of Conwy conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Conwy conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can ring them to verify if they are on the Bank of Scotland panel
In scouring the world wide web for the words conveyancing in Conwy it brings up numerous solicitorsin the vicinity. How do I determine which is the right property lawyer for the sale of my house?
The preferential method of seeking the right conveyancer is through a trusted recommendation, so ask colleagues and relatives who have acquired a property in Conwy or a reputable estate agent or mortgage broker. Costs for conveyancing in Conwy vary, so it's a good idea to obtain a minimum of three fee estimates from varying types of property lawyers. Dont forget to clarify that the fees are fixed.
Are there frequently found deficiencies that you see in leases for Conwy properties?
Leasehold conveyancing in Conwy is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.
I acquired a 2 bed flat in Conwy, conveyancing was carried out April 2001. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Conwy with an extended lease are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2080
With just 54 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.