My property lawyer in Presteigne is not on the Santander Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to use my prefered solicitor even though they are excluded from the Santander panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Presteigne lawyers but Santander will need to retain a solicitor on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees and cause delays.
- Choose a new practitioner to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are Santander approved.
- Try to convince your Santander based solicitor to try to join the Santander panel
I happen to be the only recipient of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Presteigne. The Presteigne property was put into my name in February. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in February. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be caught by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the bank as this provision primarily exists to pick up on subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with UBS. Presteigne conveyancing lawyers are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from UBS?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have UBS conducted the survey? Have you informed UBS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the UBS conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Presteigne conveyancer having made sure that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Presteigne postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Presteigne.
Should my lawyer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Presteigne.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Presteigne. There are those who acquire a house in Presteigne, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which should give them a better appreciation of the risks in Presteigne. The standard completed inquiry forms supplied to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard question of the seller to determine whether the premises has suffered from flooding. If the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading answer. A buyer’s solicitors should also order an enviro search. This will disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be made.
Is it possible to switch conveyancer as I have to appoint a firm on the HSBC Bank conveyancing panel. I had appointed a family conveyancing solicitor in Presteigne five minutes from me but she is not approved by HSBC Bank
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Presteigne on the HSBC Bank panel. Please note that the law firms that we work with do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Presteigne. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this site, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Presteigne.
Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Presteigne. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Presteigne who acted for me is not around. What should I do?
First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Presteigne conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Presteigne Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
-
What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the flat? Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Presteigne ask tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger works. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?
Partway through the sale of a leasehold flat in Presteigne. Conveyancing is fine but we are being charged a fortune from the landlord. So far we have forked out £268 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £118 for answers to questions raised by the purchaser's property lawyer.
Neither you or your solicitor will have any say over the level of the charges for this information however the average costs for the information for Presteigne leasehold property is £355. For Presteigne conveyancing sales it is conventional for the owner to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions although many will be content to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices out of proportion to the work involved. Regretfully there is no statute that mandates fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any set time frame by which they are obliged to provide answers.