I am obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds. My intention is to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Washington. Does the Lloyds Solicitor panel exclude Licensed Conveyancers?
The Lloyds conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
Our Washington lawyer has spotted a difference between the information in the home valuation report and what is in the conveyancing documents. My lawyer says that he is duty bound to ensure that the bank is OK with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s approach legitimate?
Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions 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 both parties.
My husband and I have organised the release of further monies on our home loan from Coventry BS as we want to conduct alterations to our property in Washington. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Washington solicitor on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Coventry BS do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.
I have a mortgage with Kent Reliance for my property in Washington. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Kent Reliance?
Your original mortgage agreement with Kent Reliance will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Kent Reliance’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Kent Reliance directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Washington. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost 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 very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Washington with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with Virgin Money. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Washington I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Washington suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you require a mortgage that many years will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years 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 existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Washington. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Washington who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?
First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Washington conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Washington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying
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Best to be warned if fixing the lift or some other significant cost is coming up that will be shared between the leaseholders and will dramatically impact the level of the service costs or necessitate a one time invoice. Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Washington leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Washington. If you like the apartmentin Washington yet your dog can’t move with you then you will be presented with a hard choice. If a Washington lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for two years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension.