My partner and I are looking to purchase a home in Underwood and are in fact using a Underwood conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Underwood solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Underwood lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My grandfather passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Underwood. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to HSBC, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then HSBC will require that you use a conveyancer on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the HSBC mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Underwood. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Underwood?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Underwood. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to receive the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Underwood. I have a mortgage offer with Nationwide. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Nationwide, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
About to purchase flat in Underwood. 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 Nottingham 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 Underwood lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
Me and my brother have a terraced Victorian house in Underwood. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Nationwide Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking Nationwide Building Society to clarify?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Underwood and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Underwood. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Underwood
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Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Please supply a car parking plan. 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.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Underwood I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Underwood in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.