I am selling my apartment in Dunston. Will the solicitor need to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS 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.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of obstruction in Dunston house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Dunston.
My wife and I have a renovated Georgian property in Dunston. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Alliance & Leicester . I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Dunston and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Dunston is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Dunston are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Dunston you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Dunston may decide 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.
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £250,000 maisonette in Dunston on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Dunston?
Dunston conveyancing on leasehold flats normally results in fees being levied by freeholders :
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Answering pre-contract questions
Where consent is required before sale in Dunston
Supplying insurance information
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I own a garden flat in Dunston, conveyancing was carried out 3 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Dunston with a long lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2101
With only 75 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
Our lawyer in Dunston has informed me that he requires proof of ID documents saying that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the bank Conveyancing panel. Am I being spun a yarn?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not unique to conveyancing in Dunston