My wife and I are intent on buying residence in Duxford. My lawyer is not listed on the lender approved list. Is it possible for me to continue with my Duxford conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the bank list of approved lawyers?
Various options include
- Complete the deal with your existing Duxford conveyancing practitioner but your lender will no doubt appoint a conveyancer on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional cost together with probable interruption.
- Choose a new property lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancing practitioner to do everything within their powers to join the lender’s panel of solicitors
My partner and I are refinancing our flat in Duxford with Santander. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Santander conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Santander had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
My aunt passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Duxford. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to RBS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you intend to refinance then RBS will insist on your using a conveyancer on the RBS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the RBS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Can you help - my lawyer advises that lack of building regulations insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Duxford?
The right level of lack of building regulations indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Barclays and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
My wife and I are spending time looking at apartments in Duxford and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have a solicitor on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with Yorkshire BS.
It would be sensible to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Nottingham have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a house in Duxford has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s panel). Contact Nottingham or your broker and complete any appropriate paperwork. Nottingham will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a week to get a mortgage offer. Nottingham will issue the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Duxford.
I used Stirling Law a few years ago for my conveyancing in Duxford. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Duxford of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
We are about to purchasing a home in Duxford. Conveyancing is not over but we wish to keep our transaction price private from the likes of Rightmove. Is this possible and how?
HMLR are legally bound to specify price sold data on a register of the title for domestic properties nationwide which includes homes in Duxford. The Title Register is an open document, so HMLR would be breaching their statutory obligations excluded specific properties such as the one in Duxford.
In essence you can ask HM Land Registry to withhold the price paid entry however the answer will be a No.