Me and my partner are purchasing a leasehold flat in Helston. My property lawyer has never been on on the bank approved list. Is it possible for me to use my Helston conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the lender panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
You have a couple of alternatives open to you here
- Proceed with your preferred Helston lawyer but your lender will need to use a conveyancing practitioner on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional charges and likely interruption.
- Get a new conveyancer to act in the purchase, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancing practitioner to do everything within their powers to get accepted on the lender’s conveyancing panel
My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment in Helston with Santander. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
The Helston conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my purchase in Helston have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my family Helston lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT on account. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Helston off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with HSBC. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, RBS are being problematic. The Helston solicitor who is on the RBS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but RBS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do RBS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that RBS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why RBS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Skipton. Is it usual for Skipton to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Helston is approved on their conveyancing panel? Skipton have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Skipton to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am selling a property in Neath but live in Helston. My conveyancer (approximately 250 miles from mehas requested that I sign a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Helston to witness and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you should not need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are Helston based
Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Helston. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Helston should include some of the following:
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if lease has a provision for a sinking fund? Responsibility for maintaining the window frames What you can do if an adjoining owner breaches a clause of their lease? Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business Repair and maintenance of the property
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Helston, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Helston with an extended lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2102
With 76 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.