My husband and I are hoping to acquire a house in Gallows Corner and have instructed a Gallows Corner conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Gallows Corner lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Gallows Corner solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I do hope you can assist me. My Gallows Corner solicitor is informing me me that he has toconduct Gallows Corner conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Virgin Moneyapproved lawyer panel. These Gallows Corner checks cost a lot of money can this be avoided?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Gallows Corner conveyancing searches.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of delay in Gallows Corner house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Gallows Corner.
I am buying a new build apartment in Gallows Corner. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Gallows Corner
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Please supply a car parking plan. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.
I'm converting the mortgage on my primary property to a BTL mortgage with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on further house. The area we are interested in is Gallows Corner. Will your lawyers be able to act for both sets of banks and tie in the conveyances?
Do use our search tool on this site to be sure that the solicitors are approved by both mortgage companies. Assuming that they are the solicitor should be able to connect the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you conveyancer and communicate your desired outcome and requirements.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Gallows Corner from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Gallows Corner can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers. If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing. If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Gallows Corner conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible 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.
Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Gallows Corner. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Gallows Corner conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Gallows Corner flat is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 57.5 years.