My wife and I are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Haddenham with a mortgage. We like our Haddenham lawyer, however the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Haddenham solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to require that the mortgage company use our Haddenham property lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Haddenham conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
As someone not used to the Haddenham conveyancing process what’s your top tip you can impart concerning the ownership transfer in Haddenham
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Haddenham and elsewhere in Buckinghamshire is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the house moving process. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and on occasion a lender. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Haddenham an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose role it is to look after your legal interests and to keep you safe.
On occasion a potential adversary will attempt to convince you that you should follow their advice. For example, the property agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your solicitor is wrong. Or your financial adviser may advise you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.
Should my conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Haddenham.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers conducting conveyancing in Haddenham. There are those who purchase a property in Haddenham, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Haddenham. The standard information given to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual inquiry of the seller to determine if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not disclosed by the owner, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading response. A purchaser’s conveyancers will also commission an enviro report. This will higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be made.
How does conveyancing in Haddenham differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Haddenham contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because developers in Haddenham typically purchase the site, 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 Haddenham or who has acted in the same development.
As co-executor for the will of my father I am selling a property in Cardiff but live in Haddenham. My conveyancer (based 260 miles from merequires that I execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Haddenham to witness this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Haddenham based
We own a leasehold flat in Haddenham. Conveyancing was completed in last year. I have heard that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to fall too low. Is this correct?
Haddenham residential long term leases are for a fixed term - often just under one hundred years when they commenced. However a significant flats in Haddenham were constructed or converted 30 or more years ago and so these leases now have under eighty years left to run. That may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to require leases to have at least 75 years remaining to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are approaching eighty years. To maximise your property value you should be considering whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease falls below 80 years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.