My wife and I are looking to purchase a property in Hale Barns and are in fact using a Hale Barns conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Nottingham Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Hale Barns lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Hale Barns lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our flat in Hale Barns with Yorkshire BS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire BS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Yorkshire BS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I just acquired a property at auction in Hale Barns. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Having exchanged you should appoint a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you are facing a fast approaching deadline in which to complete the deal. An auction property will have a corresponding legal set of papers. This will include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold premises the auction pack may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You must give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
How can we know in advance if a Hale Barns conveyancing solicitor on the Leeds Building Society panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Hale Barns obtaining recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor carrying out your transaction.
My sealed bid on a detached house in Hale Barns has been accepted, the vendors do however have a connected purchase. The vendors have offered on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Hale Barns. What should be my next step? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with HSBC?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (mortgage application is approx £1k, then valuation, Hale Barns conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should ensure that your solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent phase this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many buyers will apply for the mortgage with HSBC and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their solicitor to proceed with the conveyancing in Hale Barns.
A colleague suggested that where I am buying in Hale Barns I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Hale Barns conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Hale Barns around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Hale Barns Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Hale Barns Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Hale Barns.
I am buying a new build apartment in Hale Barns. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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 conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Hale Barns
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If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
As co-executor for the estate of my grandmother I am selling a property in Cardiff but I am based in Hale Barns. My conveyancer (approximately 235 kilometers from merequires that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Hale Barns who can witness this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Hale Barns based