We had chosen conveyancers locally in Pattingham on the Aldermore solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate sum for dealing with the Aldermore mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Aldermore?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Aldermore but by your Pattingham lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Aldermore panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Leeds Building Society. Pattingham conveyancing lawyers are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Leeds Building Society?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Leeds Building Society done the valuation? Have you informed Leeds Building Society as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Nottingham. Is it usual for Nottingham to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Pattingham is approved on their conveyancing panel? Nottingham have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Nottingham to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
A relative recommended that if I am buying in Pattingham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Pattingham conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Pattingham 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 type 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 concerning Pattingham.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Pattingham. I now require my papers however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Pattingham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Pattingham is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Pattingham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Pattingham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Pattingham 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 property.
Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Pattingham ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Pattingham conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Even though your previous Pattingham conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.
I bought a ground floor flat in Pattingham, conveyancing formalities finalised January 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Pattingham with an extended lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2102
With just 76 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
Our solicitor in Pattingham has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are purchasing in Pattingham. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor says that as he is on the bank conveyancing panel he must ensure that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the bank approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.