I am buying a new build duplex in Frimley and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the lender to reveal incentives from the seller. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and my preference is not to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
I have paid off my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Frimley solicitor on the Barclays panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Barclays 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 Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, 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 Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so
It is unclear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Frimley building society branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Frimley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend based on their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the lawyer is on the bank approved list, she or he must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Frimley lawyer having checked that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Skipton will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Skipton 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 conveyancing practitioner 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 Frimley postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Frimley.
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Frimley. I now require my file however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Frimley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am buying a new build house in Frimley with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not disclose to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with Platform Home Loans Ltd. 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.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Frimley is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Frimley are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Frimley you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Frimley may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Frimley for my house move. Is there any facility to check a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
You can review published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's record, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.