My fiance and I are planning to acquire a home in Hexham and have appointed a Hexham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Leeds Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hexham solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hexham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Bank of Ireland Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Hexham?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as a 1st time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Hexham. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Hexham?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you will be able to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs early afternoon.
I currently have a mortgage with UBS for my property in Hexham. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform UBS?
Your original mortgage agreement with UBS will provide that you need their approval before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel firm.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Hexham. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
My wife and I are intent on selling our house in Hexham and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A high street Hexham conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Hexham. Having lived in Hexham for three years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with 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)
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Hexham. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Hexham
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. 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 a car parking plan. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. 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.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am disposing of a property in Monmouth but I am based in Hexham. My lawyer (approximately 260 miles from meneeds me to execute a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Hexham to attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Hexham based