It is a dozen years since I purchased my property in Frognal. Conveyancing lawyers have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who acted in your purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Frognal involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
The Frognal conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Frognal have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and my previous Frognal lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Frognal what would it be?
It would be unwise to be swayed by the cheapest Frognal conveyancing costs illustration. 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 know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Frognal off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Virgin Money. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Virgin Money, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in September 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Bank of Ireland are being problematic. The Frognal solicitor who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Bank of Ireland are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Bank of Ireland have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Bank of Ireland have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Bank of Ireland 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 relative recommended that if I am buying in Frognal I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Frognal conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Frognal around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Frognal Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Frognal.
I am purchasing a new build house in Frognal with a loan from Birmingham Midshires. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it may put at risk my mortgage with Birmingham Midshires. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Hoping to buy a property located in Frognal and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Frognal. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Frognal area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Frognal. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found