My partner and I are looking to acquire a home in Grahame Park and are in fact using a Grahame Park conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Grahame Park conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Grahame Park solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Me and my partner are about to exchange on the purchase of a house in Grahame Park but as a result of damage from a small fire at the property I have was able negotiate recompense from the vendor of three thousand pounds taking the form of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process yet Clydesdale are not allowing this. Should they have been approached?
Any conveyancer that is on a Clydesdale conveyancing panel is obliged to inform Clydesdale of any variations to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyer to disclose the reduction to Clydesdale then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Clydesdale and you would have to appoint a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Grahame Park.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Grahame Park what would it be?
It would be unwise to be tempted by the lowest Grahame Park conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. 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 go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
My partner and I are at the point of viewing apartments in Grahame Park and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a lawyer in place at this point? I am planning to take a mortgage with Barclays.
You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Barclays, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
My offer on a semi in Grahame Park has been accepted, the owners do however have a connected purchase. The owners have offered on on an apartment, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have selected a high street conveyancing solicitor in Grahame Park. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with Santander going?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Grahame Park conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your property lawyer is on the Santander approved list. As to the subsequent steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their conveyancing practitioner to press on with searches.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Grahame Park 4 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
Assuming the title is registered the details of your ownership will be evidenced by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and obtain current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Grahame Park. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Grahame Park - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Grahame Park conveyancing firm to help?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Grahame Park conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Grahame Park residence is 1 & 1A Sunningfields Crescent in September 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the amount to be paid into court in respect of the value of the freehold interest is £11,997 in respect of Flat 1 and £15,781 in respect of Flat 1A for a total of £27,778. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.5 years.
My husband and I intend to purchase our first house in Grahame Park. Conveyancing solicitor has been chosen. The financial consultant suggested that a survey is not needed as the house was only constructed in 2001.
The bare minimum you need a Home Buyer's Report. As the residence is over 10 years old the property will not benefit from a warranty, so you would be well advised not to take a risk. For a property that age with no signs of problems a Home Buyer's report could suffice. They will highlight any obvious issues and recommend further investigation if appropriate. If there are any signs of material issues obtain a comprehensive Building Survey from the beginning.