My wife and I are hoping to acquire a house in Tongwynlais and have instructed a Tongwynlais conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Tongwynlais lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 Tongwynlais solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My wife and I are soon to complete on the purchase of a property in Tongwynlais but as a consequence of wreckage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree reparation from the current proprietors of £3k in the form of a adjustment in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of amending the contract but Bank of Ireland are not allowing this. Why were they approached?
Any conveyancer being on a Bank of Ireland approved list is required to disclose to Bank of Ireland of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your property lawyer to disclose the price change to Bank of Ireland then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Bank of Ireland and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Tongwynlais.
I am buying a new build flat in Tongwynlais. 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 is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Tongwynlais
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Tongwynlais I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Tongwynlais suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my uncle I am selling a property in Neath but live in Tongwynlais. My lawyer (who is 250 miles from meneeds me to sign a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Tongwynlais who can attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Tongwynlais based
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Tongwynlais with the purpose of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tongwynlais can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives. A minority of Tongwynlais leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Tongwynlais home move. Where a reissued share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Tongwynlais - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing
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Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will increase the maintenance costs? Make sure you discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Tongwynlais. If you like the propertyin Tongwynlais however your dog is not allowed to live with you then you have a very difficult determination.