I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Ettington and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are changing their property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Ettington ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
A colleague suggested that if I am purchasing in Ettington I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Ettington conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Ettington around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Ettington Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Ettington.
I have recentlybecome aware that Action Conveyancing have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Ettington for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I establish that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to see if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Ettington conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Ettington differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Ettington 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 developers in Ettington typically acquire the land, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 used to new build conveyancing in Ettington or who has acted in the same development.
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Ettington. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Ettington who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Ettington conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I bought a studio flat in Ettington, conveyancing was carried out in 2010. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Ettington with over 90 years remaining are worth £179,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2082
You have 57 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in Ettington three years past having archived my title documents but has now closed – What steps do I now take to get hold of these?
Deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Ettington are registered electronically at Land Registry. Where you need to prove evidence of proprietorship or are disposing of or refinancing your solicitor can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.