My financial adviser says he needs my Cumbria law firm’s panel member for the Santander conveyancing panel. Can you suggest how I obtain this. I have contacted my local Cumbria branch but they have not responded to me.
You are best placed to get this information from your Cumbria lawyer . They keep a central record lender panel numbers.
Are the Cumbria conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Bank of Ireland?
Cumbria conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Bank of Ireland directly.
My house in Cumbria is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does the property lawyer need to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Cumbria?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Cumbria. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
How does conveyancing in Cumbria differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Cumbria approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because developers in Cumbria typically buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Cumbria or who has acted in the same development.
I own a leasehold flat in Cumbria. Conveyancing was finished in 21012. I have read on numerous advice forums that I mustn’t allow the lease length fall too short. Is this right?
Cumbria leasehold properties are for a prescribed term - often ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Cumbria were constructed or converted 25 or more years ago and so such leases now have under eighty years remaining. That may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole need leases to have a minimum of 75 years remaining to be mortgageable. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching eighty years. To optimize the marketability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also significant benefits to doing so before the lease hits eighty years as when the lease is below eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.