My partner and I are looking to purchase a house in Frizington and have instructed a Frizington conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Frizington conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Frizington lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Frizington is more expensive?
The conveyancing fees for a leasehold premises in Frizington is frequently greater when contrasted to a freehold property. This is because there is an amount of supplemental investigations necessary in liaising with the freeholder and managing agents to obtain information about whether the rent and maintenance fee have been discharged and whether there are any significant expenditure in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
My fiance and I are buying a newly converted flat in Frizington with a residential mortgage from Coventry Building Society.We have a Frizington conveyancing practitioner but Coventry Building Society says his firm is not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct a Coventry Building Society panel solicitor or retain our local solicitor and pay for a Coventry Building Society panel lawyer to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The loan issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that conveyancers must be on the Coventry Building Society solicitor panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Coventry Building Society
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Frizington what would it be?
Do not opt for the cheapest Frizington conveyancing quote. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Is it the case that all Frizington solicitor firms on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in June 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, HSBC are being pedantic. The Frizington solicitor who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but HSBC are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do HSBC have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that HSBC have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why HSBC may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My wife and I own a semi-detached Georgian house in Frizington. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Frizington and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Frizington with the intention of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Frizington can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Frizington conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. Some Frizington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.
I own a 1st floor flat in Frizington, conveyancing having been completed September 2006. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Frizington with a long lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2100
With 75 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.