I am purchasing a flat in Headingley. My lawyer is not listed on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. Is it possible for me to retain my Headingley conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the lender approved list?
Your options include
- Complete the deal with your existing Headingley conveyancing practitioner but your lender will no doubt use a conveyancing practitioner on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional fees and likely interruption.
- Appoint a fresh property lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancing practitioner to do everything possible to get listed on the bank’s conveyancing panel
We had instructed solicitors with offices in Headingley on the Kent Reliance solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a separate sum for handling the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer can levy a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Kent Reliance but by your Headingley conveyancing practitioner. Some firms on the Kent Reliance panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.
How can we tell if a Headingley conveyancing solicitor on the Virgin Money panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Headingley seeking recommendations is a sensible 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 advocate that you speak with the lawyer handling your transaction.
I am purchasing a property in Headingley. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. TSB have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with TSB your lawyer must follow the formal instructions outlined in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to TSB where a lease fails to comply with these specifications. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Headingley.
I have justdiscovered that Action Conveyancing have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Headingley for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to see if the property is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Headingley conveyancing specialists.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one near me in Headingley I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Headingley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Headingley where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Headingley conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done 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.
I purchased a studio flat in Headingley, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Headingley with a long lease are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2082
With only 56 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £29,500 and £34,000 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
We had our home loan agreed in principle yesterday with our bank. We have retained a reputable conveyancer in Headingley last week. A couple of hours ago, our broker called to say that the lender said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their 'approved list'. As novices, we did not have a clue that the mortgage company had some control over our choice Is this usual?
You are permitted to choose any conveyancing solicitor you want to instruct including the said conveyancer in Headingley nevertheless if your lender aren't happy with them you would have to fork out additional cost so the mortgage company can retain their own lawyers. It may be possible your solicitor may apply to get added to the mortgage company panel. You can use internet tools including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in Headingley on the bank panel. You can go into your high street mortgage company branch in Headingley. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in Headingley on the approved list.