I am nearing an exchange on a property in Sandwich and my mum and dad have sent the exchange deposit to my solicitor. I am now advised that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to make a notification to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?
The conveyancer is legally required to check with lender to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only report this to your bank if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
A relative informed me that in buying a property in Sandwich there could be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Sandwich which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Sandwich 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 Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Sandwich conveyancer on the Coventry BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Coventry 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 Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry 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 Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Sandwich. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me to say that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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.
Will my conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Sandwich.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers dealing with homes in Sandwich. Plenty of people will buy a property in Sandwich, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be carried out by the buyer or by their solicitors which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Sandwich. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard inquiry of the owner to determine if the premises has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer could commence a claim for damages as a result of such an incorrect response. The buyer’s solicitors will also conduct an enviro report. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be made.
five months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Sandwich completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am buying a new build house in Sandwich with a mortgage from Halifax. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it would put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Sandwich I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Sandwich for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.