Our god-son is about to exchange on a newly built flat in The Hale with a home loan from Barclays. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Barclays conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in The Hale?
If you are buying a property in The Hale your lawyer will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is requested to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the total price then this will be required shortly before contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.
My wife and I are in the process of viewing flats in The Hale and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have my solicitor on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Lloyds.
It would be advisable to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.
I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a The Hale conveyancing practitioner on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your RBS 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 RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, 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 RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in The Hale. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a property in The Hale?
Unless a previous purchase of the premises completed post 12 October 2013 you may assume that conveyancing practitioners handling conveyancing in The Hale to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one close by in The Hale I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in The Hale for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the estate agent told us that the seller will only move forward if we appoint the agent's chosen conveyancers as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in The Hale
It is unlikely the vendors are behind this. If they want ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to appoint your own,trusted The Hale conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will earn their negotiator at the agency a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds pre-set by senior management.