I am nearing exchange of contracts for my maisonette in Presteigne and the EA has just text me to advise that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Presteigne ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
Do lenders provide you with an approved list of Presteigne conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel?
Presteigne conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Clydesdale directly.
My wife and I own a semi-detached Georgian house in Presteigne. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Clydesdale. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Presteigne and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Presteigne I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Presteigne for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected 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 can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
I am 14 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the local agent to perform conveyancing in Presteigne. We are not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
A lawyer would have to be really poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been sent? If so you need to make them aware of the new contact details and have the mortgage documents are re-sent. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental costs and frustration. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. The find a solicitor tool should help you find a lender approved conveyancer for your home move in Presteigne
Should one remove a departed person's details from the title register for a property in Presteigne?
If a Presteigne property is co-owned and one of the owners passes away, the name will not automatically be removed from the title deeds. You are not required to remove their name as when it comes to a sale your conveyancer would just need to evidence why the co owner is missing from the contract, such as a grant of probate.
With the aim of making the sale conveyancing smoother in the future you can arrange to have the deceased name erased from the title by submitting an application to HMLR with proof of the death. There is no charge from the Registry for this service.