My wife and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in Waltham Forest with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Waltham Forest conveyancer, however the bank says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to instruct one of the bank panel solicitors or retain our Waltham Forest conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to require that the lender use our Waltham Forest property lawyer ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Waltham Forest conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
The Waltham Forest conveyancing firm handling our Waltham Forest conveyancing has discovered an inconsistency between the information in the home valuation report and what is in the legal papers for the property. My lawyer informs me that he is duty bound to check that the bank is OK with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my conveyancer’s stance right?
Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the TSB Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Waltham Forest?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Waltham Forest?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Waltham Forest. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Waltham Forest I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Waltham Forest for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
My a dozen years ago. He has been wed, divorced and in recent months got married again. He now wishes to dispose of the Waltham Forest property. I suspect that he will just be asked to provide a copy of the marriage certificates to the property lawyer however he is concerned it will hold up the conveyancing. Should he instruct a solicitor to update the title details for the property?
You are not required to update the register on the basis that you have the proof needed to show how the name change occurred.
Any buyer’s solicitor will review the land registry details and need evidence by way of proof of the change of name e.g. marriage certificates.