We are about to exchange buying a house in Essex but as a result of damage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree recompense from the seller in the sum of £2k taking the form of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of a side agreement yet Nottingham will not permit this. Should they have been informed?
Your conveyancer being on the Nottingham approved list is duty bound to disclose to Nottingham of any amendments to the sale price. If you prohibit your conveyancing practitioner to notify the price change to Nottingham then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Nottingham and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Essex.
My lawyer has informed me that lack of planning permission insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Essex conveyancing?
The appropriate level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Barclays and Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Essex. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by UBS. Is it usual for UBS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Essex is approved on their conveyancing panel? UBS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for UBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the UBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
We are downsizing from our property in Essex and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a web based conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Essex. We have lived in Essex for 4 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You need to 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 health insurance to cover that same ailment)
My wife and I purchased a terraced Victorian house in Essex. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Essex and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Essex with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Am I right to be suspicious about estate agents that I am dealing with are suggesting a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Essex conveyancing firm?
As with lots of professional services, often input from relatives can be very helpful. Nevertheless there are many people with a vested interest in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all recommend lawyers to instruct. On occasion the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are free to appoint your own lawyer. However, bear in mind that most lenders specify a panel list of conveyancers you have to use for the mortgage aspect of your transaction.