My wife and I are due to complete buying a property in Saltash but as a result of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree recompense from the owner in the sum of six thousand pounds by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of amending the contract yet TSB are not allowing this. Should they have been approached?
Any lawyer that is on a TSB approved list is obliged to advise TSB of any variations to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your property lawyer to notify the reduction to TSB then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, TSB and you would have to appoint a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Saltash.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Saltash for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage company HSBC Bank won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
Lenders on the whole restrict either the type or the volume of conveyancing firms on their member panel. A common example of such criteria being that a law practice must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, some have decided to limit the number of solicitor practices they use to represent them. You should note that HSBC Bank have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of HSBC Bank Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago even though there remains differing views regarding the level of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Saltash only perform a couple conveyances a year.
A friend informed me that in purchasing a property in Saltash there could be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Saltash which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Saltash should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We had instructed conveyancers based in Saltash on the Bank of Ireland solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further fee for dealing with the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Bank of Ireland?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Bank of Ireland but by your Saltash lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Saltash. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £200. A couple of days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
What will a local search tell me regarding the house I am buying in Saltash?
Saltash conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Searchflow The local search is essential in every Saltash conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search will supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic sections.
I am purchasing my first flat in Saltash with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my lawyer about the extras as it could adversely affect my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Saltash. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Saltash, conveyancing having been completed 5 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Saltash with a long lease are worth £186,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2079
With 53 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £27,600 and £31,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.