The Lewisham conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in Lewisham have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel and my preferred Lewisham lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
When it comes to lenders such as Skipton, do Lewisham lawyers incur a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Lewisham. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Lewisham solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS 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 lawyer 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 Lewisham postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Lewisham.
What can a local search reveal regarding the house I am buying in Lewisham?
Lewisham conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as PSG The local search plays a central role in many a Lewisham conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search will supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (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 topic sections.
I own a terraced Georgian property in Lewisham. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Accord Mortgages Ltd to clarify?
You need to review 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 Lewisham and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.
I am buying a new build flat in Lewisham. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease.
As co-executor for the will of my father I am selling a property in Newport but live in Lewisham. My conveyancer (approximately 200 miles awayrequires that I sign a stat dec prior to completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Lewisham to witness this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Lewisham based