Me and my fiance are planning to purchase a 1 bedroom flat in New Barnet with a mortgage. We wish to retain our New Barnet conveyancer, however the mortgage company advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or retain our New Barnet conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your New Barnet conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
AssumingI were to purchase a freehold propertyin New Barnet mortgage fee and have no survey and no local authority searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in New Barnet?
The sole reduction in fees you would achieve is the New Barnet conveyancing searches. Your conveyancer still got to do everything else - money laundering, communicating with your vendors lawyer, stamp duty submission, register the ownership etc. A marginal saving might be made by not having to register a mortgage but it won't be significant.
My aunt pointed out to me me that in buying a property in New Barnet there may be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in New Barnet which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in New Barnet should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Skipton as we wish to carry out alterations to our home in New Barnet. Do we need to choose a nearby New Barnet solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Skipton would not normally instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Skipton panel.
I have a mortgage with UBS for my property in New Barnet. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform UBS?
You must advise UBS before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. You need not do this via a UBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in New Barnet concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. New Barnet is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in New Barnet are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in New Barnet you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in New Barnet may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mum’s Will, with a house in New Barnet which will be marketed. The bungalow has never been registered at the Land Registry and I'm told that some buyers solicitors will insist that it is done before they'll move forward. What's the procedure for this?
In the situation that you have set out it seems sensible to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and certified copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.