My fiance and I are looking to purchase a house in Kingsbridge and are in fact using a Kingsbridge conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Clydesdale have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Kingsbridge conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard 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 property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kingsbridge solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Kingsbridge for our house move. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Bank of Scotland won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
Lenders ordinarily restrict either the category or the volume of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such criteria being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few banks have reduced the amount of firms they allow to act for them. Be aware that Bank of Scotland have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Bank of Scotland Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels since 2008 even though there are differing views about the level of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry indicate that plenty of law firms, including some in or near Kingsbridge only carry out very few conveyances per annum.
What will a local search tell me concerning the house my wife and I purchasing in Kingsbridge?
Kingsbridge conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Xpress Legal The local search plays an important part in many a Kingsbridge conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject sections.
I have a renovated Edwardian property in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Skipton Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Skipton Building Society to clarify?
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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kingsbridge 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 purchasers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have recently had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and maintenance charges will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Kingsbridge - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing
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Please note that where the lease has less than eighty years it will affect the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Its a good idea to find out as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters like the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their service. Finally, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and precisely what you get for your money. How much is the service charge and ground rent on the apartment?