My husband and I are hoping to purchase a home in Godalming and have appointed a Godalming conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Godalming conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 property lawyer 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Godalming lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
In the event thatI was to buy a straightforward homein Godalming for cash and dispense with a survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Godalming?
The sole reduction in fees you would make on is the Godalming conveyancing searches. The solicitor still got to do everything else - money laundering, correspond with your sellers solicitor, stamp duty return, register the ownership etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a mortgage however it won't be meaningful.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Godalming? Is this really necessary?
It is indeed that case that the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Godalming. Nowadays you can not proceed with any conveyancing deal in the absence submitting evidence of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a council tax bill. Please note that if you are providing your driving licence as evidence of ID it must be both the paper section as well as the photo card part, one is not satisfactory in the absence of the other.
Proof of your origin of funds is required under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when when this is requested of you as your lawyer will need to have this information on record. Your Godalming conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any funds from you into their client account and they will also ask further queries concerning the origin of funds.
We're in Godalming, First timers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Lloyds , and our solicitor is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Godalming. Conveyancing is daunting 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 legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Godalming
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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. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in Godalming. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Godalming Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Godalming ask leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger works. Please note if it is no more than 80 years it will affect the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have been the owner of the property for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. What restrictions are there in the Godalming Lease?