My partner and I are hoping to purchase a home in Repton and have appointed a Repton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Repton lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Repton solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We were just about to sign contracts for a ground floor flat in Repton. We encountered a stumbling block. Our loan offer with Platform Home Loans Ltd expires on 6/10/2025 but the owners are insisting on a completion date of 8/10/2025. Can one prolong the loan offer?
The person best placed to deal with your issue is your solicitors who will determine whether they should be discussing with the mortgage broker, seller’s lawyers, property agents or conceivably all three based on the circumstances your house move to date.
My stepmother pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Repton there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Repton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Repton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Yorkshire BS. I assume I don't need a Repton conveyancing practitioner on the Yorkshire BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS mortgage from the register. Yorkshire BS, 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 Yorkshire BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Yorkshire BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Repton solicitor having checked that they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Repton postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Coventry BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Repton.
I am buying a new build flat in Repton. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Repton
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared.
My partner has recommend that I instruct his conveyancers in Repton. Should I use them?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Repton conveyancing lawyer the best way to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the conveyancer that you are contemplating using.
A licensed conveyancer handled my conveyancing in Repton half a dozen years past and was holding my deeds but has since been shut down – how do I get hold of them?
Deeds, as such, no longer exist as most properties in Repton are archived digitally at Land Registry. Where you need to show evidence of proprietorship or are disposing of or re-mortgaging your property lawyer will need to obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.