I am looking to buy a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Southport who is on the Platform Home Loans Ltd solicitor. Can you recommend a local conveyancing firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Platform Home Loans Ltd in certain locations such as Southport. We dont recommend any particular firm.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Kent Reliance are being problematic. The Southport solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Kent Reliance are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance 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.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by UBS. Is it usual for UBS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Southport is approved on their conveyancing panel? UBS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for UBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the UBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
TSB have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a property in Southport has been accepted, now what?
Your property agent will want to be informed of your solicitor's details (make sure the lawyers are on the lender’s panel). Contact TSB or the broker and complete any appropriate paperwork. TSB will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to book a slot for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. TSB will issue the offer to you and your solicitors. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Southport.
Should our conveyancer be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Southport.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors dealing with homes in Southport. Plenty of people will acquire a property in Southport, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their lawyers which should figure out the risks in Southport. The standard information sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the seller to find out if the property has ever been flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer could commence a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading answer. The purchaser’s lawyers may also order an enviro report. This should higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be carried out.
How does conveyancing in Southport differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Southport come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because house builders in Southport usually purchase the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Southport or who has acted in the same development.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Southport I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Southport in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a home loan that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
Last April I purchased a leasehold house in Southport. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Leasehold Conveyancing in Southport - Examples of Queries before buying
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Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the building? Where a Southport lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension. The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.