My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Cwmbran. I I would like to check if they are accepted on the Nationwide Building Society approved list of lawyers. Could you advise?
The first thing to do is e-mail the conveyancer and ask them whether they can act for the lender. Otherwise you should call Nationwide Building Society who may be able to help.
I am assisting my niece sell her property in Cwmbran. Does the conveyancer commission an EPC or do I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was retained a mandatory part of selling a house. An EPC should be to hand in advance of the property being advertised. It is not a task that solicitors ordinarily arrange. If you are instructing a Cwmbran conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Principality. I assume I don't need a Cwmbran solicitor on the Principality panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Principality mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Principality mortgage from the register. Principality, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Principality has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Principality has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I currently have a mortgage with Coventry BS for my property in Cwmbran. Conveyancing has been completed a year 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 BTL mortgage or inform Coventry BS?
Coventry BS must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Coventry BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Coventry BS conveyancing panel firm.
My partner and I are selling our property in Cwmbran and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Cwmbran. Having lived in Cwmbran for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Cwmbran?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Cwmbran. 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…’
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Cwmbran I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Cwmbran in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Cwmbran for my sale. Is it possible to check a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
You may search for presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For details Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors record, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor telephone calls for training reasons.