We are hoping to buy a 1 bedroom flat in St Ives with a mortgage. We wish to retain our St Ives lawyer, but the bank says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to instruct one of the lender panel firms or retain our St Ives property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to demand that the lender use our St Ives property lawyer ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms 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 St Ives conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We have agreed to purchase a house in St Ives. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Yorkshire BS be concerned?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Yorkshire BS your lawyer must check the formal instructions set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Yorkshire BS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Yorkshire BS where a lease does not comply with these conditions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to St Ives.
I have paid off my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a St Ives conveyancing practitioner on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Our sealed bid on a house in St Ives has been agreed to, the owners do however have an associated purchase. The vendors have put an offer on on an apartment, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have chosen a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in St Ives. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Bank of Ireland?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, St Ives conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your property lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland approved list. Regarding the next phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a rising market the majority of purchasers would apply for the mortgage with Bank of Ireland and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in St Ives.
I am purchasing my first flat in St Ives with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not to tell my lawyer about the extras as it would put at risk my loan with Coventry Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
How difficult is it to change conveyancer as I need to choose a firm on the Alliance & Leicester conveyancing list. I had appointed a local conveyancing solicitor in St Ives round the corner but she is not accepted by Alliance & Leicester
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in St Ives on the Alliance & Leicester panel. Please note that the law firms that we on the directory do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in St Ives. In utilising the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this website, you can compare costs for conveyancing solicitors in St Ives and throughout England and Wales.
We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent has warned us that the seller will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's chosen conveyancers as they want a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in St Ives
It is unlikely the vendors are driving this. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Contact the vendors directly and make sure they understand (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted St Ives conveyancing firm - as opposed tothe ones that will give their estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by head office.
Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in St Ives. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in St Ives who previously acted has long since retired. Do I pay?
First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a St Ives conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I purchased a 1st floor flat in St Ives, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in St Ives with over 90 years remaining are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2091
With only 65 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.