My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Garstang and have instructed a Garstang conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. National Westminster Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Garstang lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Garstang solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am the registered owner of a freehold residence in Garstang but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Garstang and has limited impact for conveyancing in Garstang but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges post 1977.
Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.
We are planning to move house in September. Should my conveyancing solicitor call the removal company on the completion day. Incidentally, can you recommend a removal company in Garstang. Conveyancing lawyer was organised prior to coming across your website.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to collect the house keys from the estate agent however this should only occur after the vendors lawyers inform the agent that the monies to complete are in and the keys can be passed over. You will need to tell the removal company that they can start moving you in. As a matter of policy we do not recommend a specific removal organisation but can help you find a residential property solicitor in Garstang or a lawyer that specialises in conveyancing in Garstang.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Garstang. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Soon after, the solicitor called me to say that they were not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Aldermore panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
After what seems like an age I have had an offer on a maisonette in Garstang agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have put an offer on a property, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Garstang. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Santander?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then survey, Garstang conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your conveyancer is on the Santander conveyancing panel. Concerning the next phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of purchasers would apply for the mortgage with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their property lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Garstang.
How does conveyancing in Garstang differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Garstang come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because builders in Garstang tend to buy the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 Garstang or who has acted in the same development.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the property agent told us that the owners will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's recommended conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Garstang
It is improbable the sellers are behind this. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the owners direct and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you will continue to appoint your preferred Garstang conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing targets demanded by HQ.
I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Garstang where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Garstang conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that 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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is 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.
I purchased a garden flat in Garstang, conveyancing formalities finalised October 2005. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Garstang with over 90 years remaining are worth £191,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2080
With only 54 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.