Me and my partner are acquiring an apartment in Northfleet. My Solicitor has never been on on the lender conveyancing list. Am I still permitted to use my Northfleet conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the mortgage company panel?
You have a couple of options open to you here
- Carry on with your chosen Northfleet conveyancer but your mortgage company will no doubt retain a conveyancer on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional cost together with likely interruption.
- Get a new lawyer to act in the purchase, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your conveyancing practitioner to apply to join the bank panel
My wife and I are acquiring a new build duplex in Northfleet and my solicitor is telling me that she is duty bound to the lender to disclose incentives from the builder. I am on a tight deadline to exchange and I have no desire to delay matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
How can we tell if a Northfleet conveyancing solicitor on the Co-operative panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Northfleet obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advocate that you speak with the lawyer conducting your transaction.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Barclays as we intend to carry out a loft conversion to our home in Northfleet. Are we obliged to appoint a nearby Northfleet solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Barclays would not normally instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Barclays list.
At last I have had an offer on a maisonette in Northfleet agreed to, the sellers do however have a tied purchase. The sellers have put an offer on a property, but it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Northfleet. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Lloyds going?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Northfleet conveyancing search costs, etc). The first course of action is to check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Concerning the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some home buyers will apply for the mortgage with Lloyds and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their solicitor to press on with the conveyancing in Northfleet.
A colleague recommended that where I am buying in Northfleet I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Northfleet conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Northfleet around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Northfleet.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Northfleet. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Northfleet
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Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Northfleet is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Northfleet are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Northfleet you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northfleet 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 residence.