The sellers of the home we are purchasing have appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Enfield Highway who has suggested a preliminary agreement with a non-refundable deposit of 5k. Are such agreements sensible?
This form of agreement is not the norm in Enfield Highway, conveyancers will often encourage clients away from them as they divert attention from the main conveyancing focus and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the solicitor at best left with an upset client and at worst a litigious one. Furthermore, there is no certainty that just because the vendor has executed an exclusivity contract they will complete the sale with you. They may be in contravention of the agreement if they are offered a large enough financial inducement to do so because a wronged claimant with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be duty bound to establish consequential losses from the breach and this may not equate the extra amount that your seller may secure by breaking the contract, however morally condemnable it undoubtedly is.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in Enfield Highway. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be with your lender or they could be archived with the lawyers who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Enfield Highway relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
My Conveyancer in Enfield Highway is not listed on the Accord Mortgages Ltd Approved Panel. Is it possible for me to retain my family solicitor even though they are not on the Accord Mortgages Ltd list of approved lawyers?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Enfield Highway solicitors but Accord Mortgages Ltd will need to use a lawyer on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees as well as cause delays.
- Get an alternative solicitor to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Persuade your conveyancer to do everything within their powers to join the Accord Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel
Is it the case that all Enfield Highway conveyancing solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Many banks do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the firms would be regulated by the CLC.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Enfield Highway property lawyer on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
My offer on a house in Enfield Highway has been agreed to, the vendors do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The vendors have placed an offer on somewhere, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Enfield Highway. What should be my next step? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with RBS?
It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Enfield Highway conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you must check that your lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some purchasers will apply for the mortgage with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their solicitor to proceed with searches.
Various internet forums that I have visited warn that are the primary cause of stalling in Enfield Highway conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Enfield Highway.
My father has recommend that I instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in Enfield Highway. Do I take his recommendation?
No doubt the best way to select a conveyancing practitioner is to get referrals from friends or family who have actually previously instructed the conveyancer that you are contemplating using.