My wife and I are planning to buy a home in Stamfordham and have instructed a Stamfordham conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Stamfordham solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Stamfordham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
A friend suggested that if I am buying in Stamfordham I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Stamfordham conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Stamfordham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Stamfordham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Stamfordham.
It has been 4 months following my purchase conveyancing in Stamfordham took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Stamfordham. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Stamfordham
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If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Stamfordham I like with a park and station nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Stamfordham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 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 with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I am an executor of my recently deceased aunt’s Will, with a property in Stamfordham which is to be sold. The property has never been registered at HMLR and I'm told that some estate agents will insist that it is completed before they will move forward. What's the procedure for this?
In the circumstances you refer to it seems sensible to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.