My husband and I are hoping to purchase a home in Kendal and are in fact using a Kendal conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Kendal lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Kendal lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We see that you have a post code search directory listing law firms on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our conveyancing in Kendal?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Kendal.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the Yorkshire BS Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Kendal?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. 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 for a fee.
Please help - my lawyer says that defective lease insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Kendal?
The appropriate level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Santander and Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
We previously chose conveyancers based in Kendal on the Santander solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee for dealing with the Santander mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Santander?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer may levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Santander but by your Kendal solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
We expect to receive a DIP from Principality this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Principality recommend any Kendal solicitors on the Principality conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Kendal solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Principality conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Principality through the process.
I'm buying my first flat in Kendal with a mortgage from Alliance & Leicester . The sellers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about the side-deal as it may jeopardize my loan with Alliance & Leicester . Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £125,000 flat in Kendal next Thursday. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Kendal?
Kendal conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled to levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.
I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Kendal, conveyancing was carried out May 2009. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Kendal with over 90 years remaining are worth £171,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105
With 79 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.