Our conveyancer has identified a defect with the lease for the property we are buying in Pontefract. The seller’s lawyers have put forward defective title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner has advised that he must be satisfied that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with 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.
A relative advised me that in buying a property in Pontefract there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Pontefract which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Pontefract should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is there a list of Yorkshire BS panel solicitors in Pontefract on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few banks make their panel listings visible over the internet. Where you are in need of a Pontefract conveyancing practitioner on the Yorkshire BS please use our tool.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Pontefract. My mortgage broker suggested a lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Shortly after, the conveyancer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are a common reason for delay in Pontefract house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Pontefract.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Pontefract. I now require my file however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Pontefract of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
What does commercial conveyancing in Pontefract cover?
Non domestic conveyancing in Pontefract covers a wide array of services, given by qualified solicitors, relating to business property. For example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the transfer of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of tenancies.
I acquired a property in Pontefract last 27/12/2024 and to date it is still not recorded with HMLR. It is part of a development site and my solicitor told me that it may take twelve months to register. I have called the Land Registry directly and they have informed me the initial application was cancelled due to failure to reply to requisitions. What can I do?
Contact your conveyancer - if you are not getting sensible responses, enquire as to their firm’s complaints procedure and amplify your concerns to a Complaints Manager. Registrations for Pontefract conveyancing are not known to be especially complex.