We are about to exchange contracts for a semi detached house in County Durham. We encountered a problem. The mortgage offer with Virgin Money runs out on 17/8/2026 but the owners are insisting on a completion date of 19/8/2026. Can one extend the loan offer?
The best person to deal with your issue is your solicitors who is in a position to calculate if they better off negotiating with the lender, seller’s conveyancers, property agents or possibly all three based on what has gone on in your conveyancing to date.
Me and my partner are purchasing a flat in County Durham. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we have to send money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from TSB as we wish to carry out renovations to our house in County Durham. Are we obliged to appoint a bricks and mortar County Durham solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
TSB would not normally require a member of their approved list of lawyers 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 TSB panel.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local County Durham solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your County Durham postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in County Durham.
I'm purchasing a new build house in County Durham with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my solicitor about this side-deal as it could jeopardize my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one near me in County Durham I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in County Durham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan that many years may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a house in Neath but I am based in County Durham. My conveyancer (based 250 miles awayhas requested that I execute a statutory declaration prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in County Durham who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you should not need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in County Durham
Are the County Durham conveyancing lawyers identified as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by the lender?
County Durham law firm practices and firms carrying out conveyancing in County Durham themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the bank directly.