My flat in Morley is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does my conveyancer have to be required to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.
I happen to be the only recipient of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Morley. The Morley property was put into my name in May. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in May. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be affected by that. many banks would take a pragmatic view as this obligation primarily exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
We previously instructed conveyancers with offices in Morley on the Santander solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional charge for handling the Santander mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Santander?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer can charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Santander but by your Morley conveyancer. Some firms on the Santander panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Morley. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Shortly after, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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 downsizing from our house in Morley and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. A local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers are using an internet conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Morley. We have lived in Morley for three years we know that this is a non issue. Do we contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Morley. Now, I need the files but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Morley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Morley I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Morley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
Do I need to be concerned by brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Morley conveyancing practice?
As with many professional services, often input from family and friends can be most helpful. Nevertheless there are many people with a vested interest in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies may suggest solicitors to instruct. On occasion these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there might be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You have the right to choose your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that some banks specify a panel list of conveyancers you are obliged to use for the lender related work in your home move.