I am five weeks into the sale of my home in Liverpool and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Liverpool ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
I have given 2 months notice to my existing landlord and have to vacate my rented apartment in Liverpool by the end of next month. Conveyancing on my purchase is progressing. How realistic is it to complete in three weeks as I wish to avoid having to move into temporary accommodation?
Generally one should not provide notice on a rental until you have exchanged. If you have not previously done so, update to your lawyer and ask them to they cajole the other lawyers, try to get a realistic time scale from them that everyone will aim towards
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Liverpool 10 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?
Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be evidenced by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, find your property and get current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for a small fee.
I'm refinancing my current house to a BTL mortgage with The Royal Bank of Scotland and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a deposit on further house. The neighborhood we are looking at is Liverpool. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two banks and tie in the conveyances?
Make use of our search tool on this page to check that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. Having checked that they are your conveyancer should be able to tie up the two transactions but you should have a chat with you lawyer and make apparent your expectations and requirements.
I own a leasehold house in Liverpool. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Liverpool who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Liverpool conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Liverpool Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing
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The majority of Liverpool leasehold properties will have a service bill for maintenance of the building set on behalf of the landlord. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this liability, normally quarterly throughout the year. This may vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. How is the lease structured? If a Liverpool lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Liverpoollease extensions you will need to own the residence for 24 months before you are legally able to extend the lease.
Been reading online that Liverpool solicitors are more expensive than licensed conveyancers in Liverpool when it comes to purchasing a house. Am I better off using a conveyancer or a solicitor if I am buying for my home move in Liverpool.
When it comes to conveyancing in Liverpool the costs are unlikely to vary dramatically depending on whether the legal expert is a licenced conveyancer or solicitor.