Find a Lender-Approved Local Conveyancer in Norris Green

My partner and I are intent on purchasing an apartment in Norris Green. My lawyer is not on the lender conveyancing panel. Am I still permitted to retain my Norris Green conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company approved list?

You have a number of options available to you here

• Carry on with your existing Norris Green solicitor but your lender will need to retain a conveyancing practitioner from their approved list. The net result is additional cost together with probable interruption.
• Get a new conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your lawyer to pull out all the stops to join the bank’s conveyancing panel

Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with RBS. Norris Green conveyancing lawyers are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from RBS?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have RBS conducted the valuation? Have you informed RBS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the RBS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Norris Green. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.

My offer was accepted on an apartment in Norris Green on 24/9/2024, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

Should our lawyer be raising questions about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Norris Green.

Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in Norris Green. Plenty of people will buy a house in Norris Green, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which should figure out the risks in Norris Green. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual inquiry of the owner to find out if the premises has ever been flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser could commence a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading response. A purchaser’s solicitors may also carry out an environmental report. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be initiated.

I opted to have a survey done on a property in Norris Green prior to instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not give a loan on a flying freehold house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Norris Green. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Norris Green especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Norris Green.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Norris Green both have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Norris Green is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Norris Green conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Norris Green, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Norris Green with an extended lease are worth £207,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2082

You have 58 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

My partner and I today discovered that one of the partners of the firm acting on the purchase conveyancing in Norris Green is related to the vendor. Is this acceptable?

As long as there is no conflict of interest this is permitted. If you are needing mortgage finance then the mortgage company may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific instructions on this. For example for Chelsea Building Society as of 17/11/2024, the requirements read as follows :