Our nephew is about to exchange on a new build apartment in Ossett with a mortgage from Nationwide. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
It is 10 years ago since I purchased my house in Ossett. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find my title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they may be archived with the lawyers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers procuring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Ossett involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
I am being advised by my conveyancer that lack of building regulations insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Ossett conveyancing?
The appropriate level of lack of building regulations indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Lloyds TSB Bank and Coventry Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Bank of Ireland, do Ossett conveyancers incur a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Our offer on a detached house in Ossett has been accepted, the sellers do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The owners have offered on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Ossett. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Nationwide?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Ossett conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Nationwide and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Ossett.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Ossett I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ossett for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
I was recommended by a couple of local estate agents in Ossett to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to market your site over and above a competitor’s?
We refuse to make any commission for directing people in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Should I use a Ossett conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? An old friend can deal with the legal formalities however they are based approximately 350miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Ossett conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and in the main were happy that must surpass using an unfamiliar Ossett conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being local.