The Snowdonia conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Snowdonia have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred Snowdonia lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
Is it the case that all Snowdonia solicitor firms on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We had instructed conveyancing lawyers locally in Snowdonia on the Lloyds solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional charge for the legal aspects of the Lloyds mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Lloyds?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Lloyds but by your Snowdonia conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the Lloyds panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
My wife and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Co-operative as we wish to conduct renovations to our house in Snowdonia. Do we need to select a nearby Snowdonia solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Co-operative do not ordinarily instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative panel.
Should my solicitor be raising questions about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Snowdonia.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Snowdonia. There are those who purchase a house in Snowdonia, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that can be undertaken by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Snowdonia. The conventional set of information supplied to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual question of the seller to determine whether the premises has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer could commence a legal claim for losses resulting from an incorrect reply. A buyer’s conveyancers may also commission an enviro report. This should indicate whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be conducted.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Snowdonia?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Snowdonia. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Snowdonia I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Snowdonia 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 problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Snowdonia for my house move. Can I check a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
You can read published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from inquisitions started on or after Jan 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For records Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor telephone calls for training reasons.