My husband and I are looking to acquire a flat in Maidenbower and have instructed a Maidenbower conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barnsley Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Maidenbower solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Maidenbower solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
After scouring mumsnet.com for a recommended solicitor in Maidenbower, many post that I should use a CQS accredited solicitor. What is CQS?
The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in the legal transfer of properties, trusted by some of the UK's major banks. Four years ago the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Legal Ombudsman. The scheme does not cover licenced conveyancers. Maidenbower is one of the many areas of the UK where there are Accredited lawyers.
I am the only recipient of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Maidenbower. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I plan to dispose of the house. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in October. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be affected by that. How practical a view lenders take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement is primarily there to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.
My partner and I are in the process of viewing apartments in Maidenbower and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a home loan with Leeds Building Society.
It would be sensible to instigate your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Maidenbower. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the HSBC panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am buying a new build house in Maidenbower with a mortgage from Coventry Building Society. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it would jeopardize my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a house in Monmouth but reside in Maidenbower. My conveyancer (based 300 miles from mehas requested that I execute a statutory declaration prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Maidenbower who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are located in Maidenbower
I only have 72 years unexpired on my flat in Maidenbower. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Maidenbower.
I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Maidenbower, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Maidenbower with an extended lease are worth £265,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2101
You have 76 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.