The Hessle conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Hessle have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my family Hessle lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Lloyds 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 help.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Hessle. Do I pick up the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Hessle?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Hessle. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nationwide, do Hessle solicitors incur an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We previously chose conveyancers locally in Hessle on the Lloyds solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate charge for the legal aspects of the Lloyds mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Lloyds?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer may charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Lloyds but by your Hessle conveyancing practitioner. Some firms on the Lloyds panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
A colleague suggested that if I am buying in Hessle I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Hessle conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Hessle around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Hessle Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Hessle.
It has been three months since my purchase conveyancing in Hessle concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. 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 residence 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.
How does conveyancing in Hessle differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Hessle come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because builders in Hessle tend to acquire the real estate, 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Hessle or who has acted in the same development.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Hessle before instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Hessle. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Hessle to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.