My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Southgate and are in fact using a Southgate conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Southgate solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Southgate lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a relatively new development (seven years built) in Southgate. The vast majority the properties are already disposed of. Is it strictly necessary to order local searches as part of conveyancing in Southgate?
Where you are obtaining a mortgage, your bank will insist on some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Southgate conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she is duty bound in this regard. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you choose to instruct your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Southgate.
What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in Southgate?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Southgate and elsewhere in North London is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For instance, the seller, selling agent and even potentially your mortgage company. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Southgate should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose responsibility is to look after your best interests and to keep you safe.
Sometimes a third party with a vested interest may try and convince you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For instance, the property agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your lawyer is wrong. Or your mortgage broker may try to convince you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.
The deeds to my house can not be found. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Southgate 5 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical deeds to evidence that you own the land or premises, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Southgate I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Southgate suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I'm remortgaging my primary home to a BTL mortgage with Bank of Scotland and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on further house. The area we are talking about is Southgate. Will your lawyers be able to act for the two banks and tie in the conveyances?
Make use of our search tool on this site to ensure that the conveyancers are on the appropriate lender panels. On the basis that they are the lawyer should be able to simultaneously deal with the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you lawyer and specify your desired outcome and needs.