I am obtaining a mortgage offer from Santander. I hope to retain the legal services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Halstead. Does the Santander Solicitor panel allow for Licensed Conveyancers?
The Santander conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
At what point will exchange of contracts occur in purchase conveyancing in Halstead and do I need to be at the conveyancers office?
If you are in close proximity to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Halstead you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the lender approved solicitors we work with supply a national conveyancing service and give as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The executing of the purchase agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line is just a prerequisite for the conveyancer to address the formalities at the suitable time, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Halstead)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
We are selling our house in Halstead and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers used a nationwide conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Halstead. Having lived in Halstead for six years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
It has been 3 months since my purchase conveyancing in Halstead took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am purchasing my first flat in Halstead with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
I work for a reputable estate agency in Halstead where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Halstead conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Halstead - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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Is there a share of the freehold? How long is the Lease?