My wife and I are looking to acquire a home in Aldersbrook and have instructed a Aldersbrook conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Aldersbrook conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard 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 Quality 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Aldersbrook solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in Aldersbrook with Principality. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Principality conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Principality had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Having sold my house in Aldersbrook last August yet the purchaser is SMS messaging daily to say her lawyer needs to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?
Following your sale your lawyer is obliged to deliver the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Where relevant, your lawyer must also evidence that the mortgage has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements specific conveyancing in Aldersbrook.
Various online forums that I have visited warn that are the primary reason for stalling in Aldersbrook conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Aldersbrook.
I got the keys to my flat on 16 February and my personal details are still not registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Aldersbrook advises it would be registered inside ten days. Are properties in Aldersbrook uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in Aldersbrook registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can adjust according to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry communicate with any third parties. Currently roughly three quarters of such applications are fully dealt with in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be longer delays. Historically registration occurs after the new owner is living at the premises therefore 'speed' is not always primary concern yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
How does conveyancing in Aldersbrook differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Aldersbrook approach us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because house builders in Aldersbrook usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Aldersbrook or who has acted in the same development.