My husband and I are looking to buy a house in Richmond and are in fact using a Richmond conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Midshires have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Richmond conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard 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 lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Richmond lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We note that you have a search directory identifying firms on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Richmond?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Richmond.
Me and my brother have a terraced Georgian property in Richmond. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Yorkshire Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking Yorkshire Building Society to clarify?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Richmond and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Richmond I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Richmond for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected 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 ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
Is it possible to swap conveyancer as I need to appoint a firm on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel. I instructed a family conveyancing solicitor in Richmond round the corner but the firm is not approved by Godiva Mortgages Ltd
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in Richmond on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we on the directory do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Richmond. Using the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this site, you can contrast charges for conveyancing solicitors in Richmond and throughout England and Wales.
In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Richmond what are the most common lease problems?
Leasehold conveyancing in Richmond is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
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Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage A duty to insure the building
A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Chelsea Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.
I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Richmond, conveyancing having been completed March 2003. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Richmond with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2088
With just 63 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £16,200 and £18,600 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.