My husband and I are hoping to purchase a property in Crook and have appointed a Crook conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Halifax have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Crook conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Crook lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We were just about to exchange contracts for a garden flat in Crook. We have hit a problem. The mortgage offer with Leeds Building Society runs out on 7/8/2025 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 11/8/2025. Is it possible to prolong the loan expiry date?
The best person to deal with your question is your conveyancer who will hopefully determine whether they corresponding with the mortgage broker, owner’s conveyancers, estate agents or indeed all parties given the history of your house move to date.
When researching moneysavingexpert.com for an affordable lawyer in Crook, many advise that I must instruct a CQS kitemarked lawyer. What is CQS?
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * adherence to best practice conveyancing processes through the scheme protocol the standard includes many partnerships who execute conveyancing in Crook.
I am buying a property in Crook. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. UBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is UBS your lawyer must check the formal instructions outlined in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The CML Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to UBS where a lease does not satisfy these specifications. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Crook.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Crook. My mortgage broker suggested a lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Not long after, the solicitor called me to say that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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.
Having read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Crook solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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 Crook postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Crook.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Crook is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Crook are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Crook you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Crook may ascertain 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 premises.
What are the frequently found deficiencies that you come across in leases for Crook properties?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Crook. Most leases are drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording 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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Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts. A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.
Crook Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying
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Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Can you tell me if there are any major works in the planning that will increase the service fees? For most Crook leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be wrapped into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Crook ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works.