My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Lancaster. I need to find out whether they are on the Barclays Direct approved list of lawyers. Could you or the lender confirm if they are on the panel?
You should contact your lawyer and ask them if they can act for the lender. Otherwise you can get in touch with Barclays Direct who may be able to assist.
Do I choose a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Lancaster?
Two types of professional can do conveyancing in Lancaster namely licenced conveyancers or solicitors. The two can handle the legal services that required to complete the disposal or acquisition of property. Both are required to execute Lancaster conveyancing to the same standards and guidelines so you can be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be professionally administered and that the necessary procedures will be appropriately followed.
This question may be naive but I am new to the process as FTB of a garden flat in Lancaster. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Lancaster?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Lancaster. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Lancaster solicitor - who is on the TSB conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
TSB will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually TSB will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Lancaster postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Lancaster.
I am purchasing my first flat in Lancaster with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
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.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Lancaster ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will not issue a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Lancaster. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Taking into account that I will soon spend 450k on a house in Lancaster I wish to talk to a conveyancer about myhome move before giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the conveyancer who will be conducting your property ownership legalities in Lancaster.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a file reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for residential conveyancing in Lancaster should be the figure that you end up paying.
Completion is due on the disposal of our £225,000 garden flat in Lancaster on Thursday in a week. The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Lancaster?
Lancaster conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are entitled to charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.
I bought a split level flat in Lancaster, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Lancaster with over 90 years remaining are worth £202,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2082
You have 56 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £29,500 and £34,000 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.