I am selling my maisonette in Shenley and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Shenley ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. 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. Some 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Shenley is more expensive?
The conveyancing fees for a leasehold property in Shenley is often more expensive when contrasted to a freehold acquisition or disposal. This is because there is an amount of extra time necessary in communicating with the landlord and management company to obtain evidence concerning whether the rent and service charges have been paid and whether there are any significant expenditure in the foreseeable future on repairs or maintenance of the building.
We are buying a newly converted apartment in Shenley with a homeloan from Bank of Scotland.We have a Shenley conveyancing lawyer but Bank of Scotland advised that his firm is not listed on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Bank of Scotland panel lawyer or keep our preferred solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that conveyancers must be on the Bank of Scotland approved list. in the past, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Bank of Scotland
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Shenley. I now require my papers however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Shenley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am buying a new build apartment in Shenley. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 conveyancing.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Shenley
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Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Shenley I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Shenley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.