My wife and I are looking to buy a house in Downham and are in fact using a Downham conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Downham solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Downham lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
What is the best way to check that the solicitor handling my conveyancing in Downham is on the mortgage lender’sapproved panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Nationwide Building Society thus paying £192.00 in additional legal invoice.
Feel free to take advantage of the search tool on this web page. Pick the mortgage company and type ‘Downham’ or your location and you will discover a number of lawyer based in Downham or nearest you.
We are selling our house in Downham and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Downham. We have lived in Downham for six years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. What do they say? You should enquire of 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 life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I am buying a new build apartment in Downham. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Downham
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Downham ahead of retaining conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Downham. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Downham conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Downham conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Downham conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions could be of use:
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How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation? What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Downham. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Downham conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Downham residence is Ravensbourne Lodge 4 Highland Road in February 2013. the Tribunal held that the amount payable for the freehold was £22,268