Me and my husband are purchasing a leasehold flat in Queensbury. My Solicitor is not listed on the mortgage company solicitor list. Is it possible for me to use my Queensbury conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
Your options include
- Proceed with your preferred Queensbury solicitor but your mortgage company will no doubt instruct a property lawyer on their approved panel. The net result is additional fees together with potential interruption.
- Choose a new conveyancing practitioner to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your property lawyer to apply to join the mortgage company panel
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a relatively new development (6 years old) in Queensbury. 95% of the flats are already sold. Do I need carry out the local searches as part of conveyancing in Queensbury?
A big part of the Queensbury conveyancing process is the conveyancing searches. There are hundreds companies conducting Queensbury conveyancing searches, as well straight from the local authority. These are known collectively as personal search companies due to them carrying out, personal searches. Nevertheless, all Local Authority Search conveyancing products have one thing in common - they must obtain their information from the local authority.
It is is a decade since I purchased my home in Queensbury. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I can't find my title deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be with the lender or they may be archived with the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Queensbury involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Nottingham Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Queensbury?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
How does conveyancing in Queensbury differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Queensbury contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because builders in Queensbury typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Queensbury or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Queensbury I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Queensbury in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.