I am purchasing a newly constructed apartment in Witham and my conveyancer is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the seller. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and I would rather not prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Can your site be used to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in Witham even if I’m not buying or selling a house, for instance if I wish to acquire an office in Witham with a mortgage from Aldermore?
The service is mainly used to locate residential conveyancing solicitors in Witham but we have listed at the end of this page a few Witham commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the company directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Aldermore
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Witham conveyancing lawyers were chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Santander done the valuation? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Barclays are being problematic. The Witham solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Barclays are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Witham solicitor - who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Witham postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Witham.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Witham. Conveyancing is daunting 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 few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Witham
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Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? 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. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.
Is it best to use a Witham conveyancing solicitor based in the area that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can carry out the legal work but his firm is located 200kilometers away.
The benefit of a high street Witham conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, present your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local Witham know how is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and in the main were happy that must outweigh using an unknown Witham conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.
The conveyancing solicitors conducting our conveyancing in Witham has forwarded papers to review that reveal that the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all property in Witham should be registered?
The majority of property in Witham is registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of Witham conveyancing lawyers will be capable of dealing with this type of conveyancing but where uncertainty reigns the conventional proposition nowadays seems to be for the seller to register it first and thereafter deal with the sale conveyance - this will have a domino effect to cause a significant delay.