My partner and I are looking to purchase a home in Langham and have instructed a Langham conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Aldermore have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Langham conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 solicitor 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Langham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We are purchasing a house in Langham. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? At some point we have to put funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I happen to be the only recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Langham. The Langham property was put into my name in November. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in November. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook obliges solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be caught by that. many mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this provision chiefly exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
It is unclear whether my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Langham bank branch on numerous occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My Langham conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they will not lend in accordance with their published requirements. Who do I believe?
Your solicitor must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two specifications for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Langham. I now require my file however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Langham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Langham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Langham come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Langham typically buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Langham or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Langham is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Langham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Langham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Langham may decide 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 premises.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but reside in Langham. My conveyancer (approximately 260 miles awayrequires that I execute a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Langham who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Langham based