My fiance and I are looking to acquire a flat in Longton and have appointed a Longton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Coventry Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Longton solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal 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 property lawyer should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Longton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We're in Longton, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is Kent Reliance , and our lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
When it comes to lenders such as Aldermore, do Longton solicitors incur a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Nationwide have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a house in Longton has been accepted, what happens next?
The property agent will wish to be advised as to your lawyer's details (make sure the solicitors are on the lender’s panel). Contact Nationwide or your broker and complete any appropriate paperwork. Nationwide will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Nationwide will send the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Longton.
After what seems like an age I have had an offer on an apartment in Longton accepted, the sellers do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The sellers have offered on a flat, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other apartments booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Longton. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with UBS?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Longton conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must check that your property lawyer is on the UBS approved list. As to the next stages this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market many buyers would apply for a home loan with UBS and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their solicitor to move forward with searches.
I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when purchasing a house in Longton? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that homeowners living in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for repairs towards the chancel within the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Longton?
Unless a prior acquisition of the premises completed post 12 October 2013 you may expect solicitors delivering conveyancing in Longton to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
Planning to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Longton. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Longton should include some of the following:
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What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? The unexpired lease term. You should receive guidance as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years Rent payments - how much and what the invoice dates are, and also know whether this is subject to change Who has the liability for repairing the window frames Your solicitors should enable you to have an understanding of the insurance obligations
I purchased a leasehold flat in Longton, conveyancing formalities finalised May 2000. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Longton with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2093
With just 67 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
Is there a reason that Longton conveyancing charges are higher for leasehold and freehold properties?
When purchasing a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control