I am one month into the sale of my ground floor flat in Southwick and the EA has just text me to advise that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major lender only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Southwick ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
I am buying a house for cash in Southwick. I have lived for the last dozen years in Southwick. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I know the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
In the absence of a mortgage, then the vast majority of the Southwick conveyancing searches are optional. Your lawyer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to do this. One thing to take into account; if you are likely to sell the house in the future, it will be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches contain. Sometimes premises with functional issues can still reveal unpredicted search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Southwick should provide you some practical guidance here.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Southwick? Why is this being asked of me?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering laws require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to check the identity of the potential client they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing instruction. The Terms and Conditions that you are required to sign should confirm this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be viewed. Where you refuse to provide identification documents, your conveyancer will not be able to take you on as a client.
My wife and I are selling our property in Southwick and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Southwick lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Southwick. We have lived in Southwick for 4 years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
There are only 62 years remaining on my lease in Southwick. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Southwick.
I purchased a studio flat in Southwick, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Southwick with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2094
With just 68 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
I need to change lawyers as my Southwick lawyer is not on the mortgage company's approved list of conveyancing solicitors. How simple is it to change conveyancer?
In the event that you have not formally instructed a solicitor to do anything for you and at this stage simply received an estimate as to costs, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer in Southwick that you're thinking of instructing.