My wife and I are planning to acquire a home in Pitsea and have appointed a Pitsea conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Pitsea lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Pitsea lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Pitsea for our house purchase. Our financial adviser has since advised us that our mortgage company TSB won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
Lenders in the main restrict either the type or the volume of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, some have reduced the number of firms they allow to act for them. You should note that TSB have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of TSB Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the reduction of solicitor panels a few years ago even though there remains mixed views regarding the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Figures from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Pitsea only perform very few conveyances per annum.
What can a local search tell me regarding the property my wife and I purchasing in Pitsea?
Pitsea conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for instance Searches UK The local search is essential in every Pitsea conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.
I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Pitsea. Now, I need my documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 Pitsea 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.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Pitsea. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Pitsea
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Pitsea. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Pitsea - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I acquired a split level flat in Pitsea, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Pitsea with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2100
With only 74 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.