Our solicitor has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Durrington. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our property lawyer says that he must be satisfied that the lender is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
The Durrington conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Durrington have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel and my preferred Durrington lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Aldermore conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
My wife and I are purchasing a house in Durrington. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we have to deposit funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
is it true that all Durrington conveyancing solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be overseen by the CLC.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Durrington. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £175. Shortly after, the property lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Durrington?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Durrington. 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 Durrington differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Durrington approach us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because new home sellers in Durrington usually purchase the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 Durrington or who has acted in the same development.
I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Durrington. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?
Most houses in Durrington are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Durrington in which case you should be shopping around for a Durrington conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.
I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Durrington, conveyancing having been completed 9 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Durrington with over 90 years remaining are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105
With only 80 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.