I am nearing exchange of contracts for my apartment in Shawbury and the EA has just telephoned to say that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Shawbury ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for many years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
Our nephew is buying a new build apartment in Shawbury with a home loan from TSB. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the TSB conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the TSB conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I currently have a mortgage with Skipton for my property in Shawbury. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Skipton?
You must advise Skipton before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Skipton’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let 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 Skipton directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Principality are being difficult. The Shawbury solicitor who is on the Principality conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Principality are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Principality have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Principality have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Principality may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Shawbury solicitor - who is on the Principality conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality 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 lawyer 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 Shawbury postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Principality, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Shawbury.
The deeds to my property can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Shawbury 10 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?
Assuming the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be documented by HMLR under a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and secure up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
I am purchasing my first flat in Shawbury with a loan from Lloyds TSB Bank. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my lawyer about the deal as it could jeopardize my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Completion is due on the sale of our £225,000 maisonette in Shawbury next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Shawbury?
For most leasehold sales in Shawbury conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
Where consent is required before sale in Shawbury
Copies of the building insurance and schedule
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I purchased a studio flat in Shawbury, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Shawbury with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2100
You have 75 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.