Just contacted my conveyancing solicitor in Taverham who conducted the legals two years ago requesting a conveyancing costs illustration based on the same type of home move (a leasehold residence and a freehold premises) of almost identical values with a home loan from Nottingham Building Society. I am now being quoted twice the amount. Stick with what I know or should I seek out a cheaper online property lawyer?
The estimate does seem a tad steep. If you shop around you might get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by as much as £125. That being said, if you were content with the service the firm gave you mightcome to rue opting for an a cheaper lawyer. If is important to ensure the conveyancer can represent Nottingham Building Society. You can utilise our search tool to choose a Taverham conveyancing firm on the Nottingham Building Society member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Taverham.
The Taverham conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Taverham have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and my preferred Taverham lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to assist.
We previously chose conveyancers locally in Taverham on the Principality solicitor panel. They have just billed me a supplemental sum for handling the Principality mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Principality?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner may levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Principality but by your Taverham lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Principality panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many firms include it on their overall fee.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Co-operative are being difficult. The Taverham solicitor who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Co-operative are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Co-operative have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Co-operative have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Co-operative 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.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Taverham solicitor having checked that they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Barclays will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Barclays will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Taverham surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Taverham I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Taverham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension 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 solicitor about this.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Taverham where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Taverham conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Taverham - A selection of Queries before Purchasing
-
Are there any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the service charges? What prohibitions are contained in the Taverham Lease? How much is the service charge and ground rent on the apartment?
Me and my husband are disposing of a Taverham property left to us ten years ago in 2011. I have over a decades worth of conveyancing experience and, although retired, see no reason not to do the legal work. The purchaser's conveyancer has informed me that their mortgage company will not allow us to do our own conveyancing as they require the funds to be passed via a solicitor's bank account.
Mortgage requirements to lawyers from all CML members specify that If the seller does not have legal representation the purchaser’s lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be notified so that a decision can be reached if they are prepared to move forward.