My wife and I are acquiring a newly constructed flat in Lanchester and my solicitor is advising me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I would rather not prolong deal. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Completed the sale of my flat in Lanchester last May yet the purchaser is SMS messaging every few hours to moan that his solicitor needs to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
After completion of your sale your lawyer is committed to forward the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's solicitors. Where relevant, your solicitor must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been discharged to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion steps unique to conveyancing in Lanchester.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the TSB Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Lanchester?
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.
I have been told that property searches are the main cause of delay in Lanchester house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Lanchester.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Lanchester is the location of the property. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Lanchester are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Lanchester you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Lanchester may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I have miscalculated my finances and am a couple of grand short a 10% deposit on my flat purchase in Lanchester , but I am anxious proceed. What can I do?
You can agree a lower deposit. Many property owners will agree to a lesser deposit or even no deposit for a first time buyer or 100% mortgage. Be aware though that if you fail to complete you will still need to hand over a minimum of 10% of the purchase price regardless of how much deposit was agreed.
You can also agree a simultaneous exchange and completion as no deposit is required for this however neither party will be tied in until completion actually takes place and it can be risky if sellers change their mind at the last moment