I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Garston and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are changing their law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Garston ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
At what point will exchange of contracts take place for purchase conveyancing in Garston and am I required to be at the solicitors branch?
If you are in close proximity to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Garston you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the firms we recommend offer a nationwide conveyancing service and give just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you electronically. The executing of the contract is not the important part. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the firm to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Garston)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
My colleague recommended that if I am buying in Garston I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Garston conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Garston 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 details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Garston.
My wife and I have a terraced Edwardian property in Garston. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching 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 as there may be 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 Garston and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
I am buying my first flat in Garston with a loan from Leeds Building Society. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it may adversely affect my mortgage with Leeds Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
We expect to complete the sale of our £325,000 flat in Garston on Wednesday in a week. The management company has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Garston?
Garston conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty to levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.
I purchased a 1st floor flat in Garston, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Garston with a long lease are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2078
You have 53 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £27,600 and £31,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. 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. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.