My fiance and I are hoping to buy a house in Newtown and are in fact using a Newtown conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Newtown solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Newtown solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Are the BSA intent on creating a search tool with a view to list practices on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel for instance in Newtown?
We are not aware of any intention on the part of the BSA to promote such a search facility.
When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Newtown lawyers face a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Newtown property lawyer on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
It is not clear whether my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Newtown building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Newtown conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they would not lend based on their published requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the lawyer is on the bank panel, she or he must follow the CML Handbook provisions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I am buying a new build flat in Newtown. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Newtown
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.
There are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Newtown. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Newtown.
Newtown Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing
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Is there a share of the freehold? It is important to be aware if a new roof is being installed or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared by the leaseholders and will materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or require a one off payment. The majority of Newtown leasehold properties will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building set by the management company. Where you acquire the flat you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.
We are about to purchasing a property in Newtown. Conveyancing is not yet done but we wish to have the amount we are are buying for confidential from the likes of Zoopla. what can I do to make sure this is not noted?
HMLR by statute are obliged to reveal price sold information on a register of the title for residential properties nationwide which includes homes in Newtown. The register of ownership is a public document, so HMLR would be breaching their statutory duty excluded certain homes such as your one in Newtown.
You can make a request of HM Land Registry to withhold the price paid data however the response would be in the negative.