I own a freehold house in Somersham but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Somersham and has limited impact for conveyancing in Somersham but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges post 1977.
Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be extinguished.
My fiance and I decided to purchase a newly converted flat in Somersham with a homeloan from Leeds Building Society.We have a Somersham conveyancing practitioner but Leeds Building Society informed us she’s not on their approved list of member firms. It seems we have no choice but to instruct a Leeds Building Society panel firm or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Leeds Building Society use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors needs to be on the Leeds Building Society approved list. in the past, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors 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. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Leeds Building Society
We had chosen conveyancers based in Somersham on the Principality solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional fee for dealing with the Principality mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Principality?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Principality but by your Somersham lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Principality panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.
I have a mortgage with Skipton for my property in Somersham. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Skipton?
Your original mortgage agreement with Skipton will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Skipton’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Skipton will allow you to rent 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. You need not do this via a Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Somersham. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.
I'm buying a new build house in Somersham with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not inform my conveyancer about the deal as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. 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.
Given that I will soon part with over three hundred thousand on a two bedroom apartment in Somersham I would like to have a conversation with the solicitor about myhouse move in advance of instructing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
We could not agree more - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the lawyer due to be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Somersham.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for your conveyancing in Somersham should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.
My husband and I are buying a first floor flat in Somersham. When we first instructed property lawyer, we were told they were on all major UK bank panels. Our financial adviser contacted us just now to advise that they don't seem to be on the HSBC approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Do we just choose a different conveyancing practitioner that is on their approved list or do we cover the costs for separate representation, with HSBC appointing their own preferred conveyancer.
Where you are acquiring a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the buyer’s lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the conveyancer has to meet. Some lenders now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact HSBC to discover if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on HSBC's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Somersham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another conveyancer into the equation.