My husband and I are planning to acquire a flat in St Neots and have instructed a St Neots conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our St Neots conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 bank 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 and you may continue to use your own St Neots solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a online directory to list law firms on the Melton Mowbray Building Society conveyancing panel for example in St Neots?
We would not expect to be advised of any plans on the part of the BSA to promote such a register.
The mortgage over my property is with TSB for my property in St Neots. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. Should I wish 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 TSB?
Your original mortgage agreement with TSB will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of TSB’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let 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 TSB directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a TSB conveyancing panel solicitor.
Planning on purchasing a apartment in St Neots. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the St Neots conveyancer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.
Leeds Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in St Neots has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (be sure the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Leeds Building Society or the broker and complete any outstanding forms. Leeds Building Society will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to schedule an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Leeds Building Society will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in St Neots.
I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to have this when purchasing a property in St Neots? or Apparently there is an ancient law that means some house owners living in a parish church boundary will be compelled to contribute towards repairs to the chancel within the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in St Neots?
Unless a previous acquisition of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you may expect lawyers carrying out conveyancing in St Neots to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in St Neots prior to retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a loan on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in St Neots. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in St Neots. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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).
I bought a 1 bedroom flat in St Neots, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in St Neots with an extended lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2087
With only 61 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do 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 want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.