My fiance and I are hoping to buy a home in Hockley Heath and have instructed a Hockley Heath conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hockley Heath solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Hockley Heath lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
At what point will exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Hockley Heath and am I required to be at the solicitors office?
Where you are near to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Hockley Heath you are invited in to sign documents. However, the law practices we work with offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the purchase agreement is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract is necessary for the firm to officially exchange at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Hockley Heath)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Barclays. Hockley Heath conveyancing solicitors were chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Barclays?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Barclays completed the valuation? Have you informed Barclays as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Barclays conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I am buying a property in Hockley Heath. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. HSBC have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is HSBC your lawyer must follow the formal instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for HSBC. The CML Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to HSBC where a lease does not meet these requirements. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Hockley Heath.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Hockley Heath property lawyer on the Barclays panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Barclays mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so
We are selling our house in Hockley Heath and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Hockley Heath. We have lived in Hockley Heath for three years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. Are they able to advise? You need to 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 illness)
I own a semi-detached Victorian house in Hockley Heath. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and HSBC Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Hockley Heath and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Hockley Heath I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hockley Heath for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.