I am in the throes of switching my current residential home loan to a BTL Alliance & Leicester mortgage. I have been informed by my broker that I require a conveyancer for this. I spoke to my former Norris Green conveyancing practitioner who dealt with the legals when I first acquired the premises. The costs illustration issued of £550 has shocked me as I am not require purchase conveyancing - it’s simply a bog-standard refinance.
The quote is fractionally on the steep side. If you you were to look around you may be able to reduce the fees slightly by as much as a hundred pounds. That being said, assuming were content with the assistance the firm provided you mightcome to regret choosing an an untested lawyer. Remember to enquire that the firm can act for Alliance & Leicester . You can make use of our search tool to choose a Norris Green conveyancing firm on the Alliance & Leicester approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Norris Green.
Should lawyers ask for money on account for my conveyancing in Norris Green?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Norris Green your solicitor will request that you place them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is payable against the total price then this should be asked for shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days ahead of the day of completion.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Norris Green. My lender is Platform
Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 2/3/2025, the requirements read as follows :
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Norris Green. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and The Mortgage Works. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking The Mortgage Works to clarify?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Norris Green and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Norris Green I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Norris Green suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
The conveyancing solicitors carrying out our conveyancing in Norris Green has forwarded documents to review that reveal that the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all properties in Norris Green are registered?
Although most properties in Norris Green are now registered with HM Land Registry there are still some that are unregistered. Any property in Norris Green that has been transferred since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the Land Registry under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Norris Green property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Norris Green conveyancing solicitors will be capable of dealing with such matters but if any uncertainty reigns the conventional recommendation nowadays is for the seller to register the title first and subsequently deal with the dispose of the property to the purchaser - this will have a domino effect to result in a drawn-out conveyancing.