I am hoping to receive a offer of a home loan from Lloyds. My intention is to retain the legal services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Redditch. Does the Lloyds Conveyancing panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Lloyds conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
The Redditch conveyancing firm handling our Redditch conveyancing has identified an inconsistency between the surveyor’s assumptions in the valuation survey and what is revealed within the title deeds. My lawyer says 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 appropriate?
Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications 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 you.
It is is a decade since I acquired my home in Redditch. Conveyancing solicitors have now been retained on the sale but I can't track down the title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be with your lender or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in 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 acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Redditch relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more tricky but is not insurmountable.
I am assisting my sister sell her property in Redditch. Will the solicitor order an EPC or should I organise this?
Following the demise of Home Packs, energy performance certificates was left as a compulsory part of selling a house. An energy assessment must be to hand prior to the property being advertised. It is not something that solicitors ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Redditch conveyancing practitioner they may help arrange EPC’s given their relationships with reputable local providers
I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Redditch solicitor on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with Virgin Money for my property in Redditch. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
You must advise Virgin Money prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel lawyer.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Redditch. Now, I need the files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Redditch of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I bought a property in Redditch last 21/11/2023 and to date it is still not recorded with the Land Registry. It was part of a development site and my conveyancer told me that it may take 12 months to register. I have spoken with HM Land Registry directly and they have informed me the initial application was cancelled due to failure to reply to requisitions. What can I do?
Contact your lawyer - if you are not getting sensible responses, look up their internal complaints protocol and escalate your concerns to a Partner. Registrations for Redditch conveyancing are not known to be significantly delayed.