I am buying a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Flintshire who is on the Alliance & Leicester solicitor. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Alliance & Leicester in certain locations such as Flintshire. We dont recommend any particular firm.
I am assisting my niece sell her house in Flintshire. Will the conveyancer arrange an energy performance certificate or do I organise this?
After the demise of HIPs, energy performance certificates became a mandatory element of moving property. An EPC must be commissioned before the property is advertised. It is not something that conveyancers normally arrange. Where you are using a Flintshire conveyancing practitioner they might be able to arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with long established local providers
The mortgage over my property is with Santander for my property in Flintshire. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Santander?
You must advise Santander before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Santander’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Santander will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Santander directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Santander conveyancing panel firm.
I have instructed a Flintshire property lawyer having checked that they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Flintshire postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Clydesdale, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Flintshire.
My colleague advised me that where I am purchasing in Flintshire I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Flintshire conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Flintshire around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Flintshire Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Flintshire.
I am purchasing my first flat in Flintshire benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the deal as it would affect my mortgage with Accord Mortgages Ltd. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Flintshire where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Flintshire conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Flintshire Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? How many years are left on the lease? It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the leaseholders and may well dramatically impact the level of the service charges or necessitate a one off invoice.
Do I need to have a meeting at the offices of the bank conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Flintshire so that I can pop in to their offices if necessary.
Whereas this was necessary 12 years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Flintshire.