I have just been advised by my mortgage adviser that my West Moors property lawyer is not on the bank Conveyancing panel. How can I be certain whether this is indeed the case?
The first thing you need to do is to call your West Moors conveyancer. You lawyer should notify you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.
I purchased a freehold house in West Moors but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in West Moors and has limited impact for conveyancing in West Moors but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.
The West Moors conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in West Moors have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I needed a firm on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my previous West Moors lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
I am assisting my sister sell her property in West Moors. Does the conveyancing solicitor order the EPC or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, EPC’s was kept a required component of selling a property. An energy performance certificate needs to be to hand before the property is placed on the market. It is not a task that conveyancers normally organise. If you are using a West Moors conveyancing lawyer they might be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established local providers
I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a West Moors conveyancing practitioner on the Coventry BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, 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 Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Intending to buy a house in West Moors. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Principality 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 West Moors conveyancer is on the Principality conveyancing panel.
I'm purchasing a new build house in West Moors benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about the deal as it will adversely affect my mortgage with TSB. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
I work for a busy estate agent office in West Moors where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local West Moors conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Leasehold Conveyancing in West Moors - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying
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The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants have control and although a managing agent is often retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the tenants and will materially increase the the maintenance charges or result in a one off invoice. Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the block?