My husband and I are looking to buy a property in Leven and have instructed a Leven conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Leven lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 and you may continue to use your own Leven solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My partner and I have arranged the release of further funds on our mortgage from HSBC as we wish to carry out improvements to our house in Leven. Are we obliged to appoint a high street Leven solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
HSBC do not ordinarily appoint a member of their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the HSBC list.
It is unclear whether my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Leven building society branch on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Leven conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
The conveyancing practitioner has to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two provisions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company 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.
After what feels like an age I have had an offer on a maisonette in Leven agreed to, the owners do however have a connected purchase. The vendors have placed an offer on a property, but it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other apartments in the pipeline. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Leven. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Santander?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Leven conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to check that your conveyancer is on the Santander conveyancing panel. Concerning the next phase this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some purchasers will apply for a home loan with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Leven.
Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the number one cause of delay in Leven conveyancing transactions. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Leven.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Leven 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
You no longer need to hold title original deeds to establish that you are the owner of your registered land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Leven I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Leven suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
My husband and I have today had an offer accepted on our 1st house in Leven, and are about to get solicitors appointed. I have utilised the various comparison tools and the fee estimates are from all across the country. Is it critical to have a Leven conveyancing practitioner local to your potential new home? I am willing to do everything over the web, but I am thinking at some stage we may be required to attend the conveyancer's office to sign papers?
Generally there is no need to attend the office of your lawyer, they can send any relevant papers to you, which you can sign and send back. Many buyers and sellers nevertheless opt to use a locally based solicitor, but it is not a prerequisite for conveyancing in Leven.