My fiance and I are planning to purchase a flat in Reddish and have instructed a Reddish conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Midshires have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Reddish lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Reddish solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My Reddish solicitor has spotted an inconsistency between the assumptions in the valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My solicitor informs me that he is obliged to check that the lender is OK with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my solicitor’s course or action right?
Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.
Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Reddish even where I’m not buying or selling a house, for instance if I want to buy an office in Reddish with a loan from HSBC Bank?
The service is predominantly used to get a quote from domestic conveyancing solicitors in Reddish but we have recorded towards the end of this page a few Reddish commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the solicitors directly to establish if they can also act for HSBC Bank
Can you help - my lawyer advises that lack of planning permission insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Reddish conveyancing?
The right level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Nationwide Building Society and Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Reddish property lawyer on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your RBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Reddish. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Newport but live in Reddish. My conveyancer (approximately 200 miles awayhas requested that I execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Reddish to attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Reddish based
Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Reddish garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Reddish conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Reddish do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.
Reddish Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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Can you tell me if there are any major works anticipated that will likely increase the service charges? Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Reddish obliged leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance. Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues such as the upkeep of the communal areas. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours if they are happy with them. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the appropriate party and specifically what it includes.