I am obtaining a mortgage offer from Lloyds. My intention is to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Ratcliff. Does the Lloyds Solicitor panel exclude Licensed Conveyancers?
The Lloyds approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
The Ratcliff conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in Ratcliff have without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a lawyer on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my family Ratcliff lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help.
We are purchasing a end of terrace house in Ratcliff. Our aim is to convert the garage to a playroom at the house.Will the conveyancing process include checks to determine if these alterations are allowed?
Your conveyancer should review the registered title as conveyancing in Ratcliff will sometimes identify restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of works or need the permission of another owner. Many additions need local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
is it true that all Ratcliff solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Kent Reliance approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the CLC.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Ratcliff. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the property lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.
I require quick conveyancing in Ratcliff as I have pressure to sign on the dotted line within 4 weeks. A home loan is not required. Is it possible to decline from having conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are are a cash buyer you are at liberty not to have searches conducted although no conveyancer would recommend that you don't. With lots of history conveyancing in Ratcliff the following are instances of issues that can arise and adversely affect future saleability: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Fees, Outstanding Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Ratcliff I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ratcliff in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Ratcliff where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Ratcliff conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Ratcliff. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to determine the price.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Ratcliff premises is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired term was 101.61 years.