My husband and I are looking to purchase a flat in Woolavington and are in fact using a Woolavington conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Woolavington lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer should contact your bank 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Woolavington solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We're in Woolavington, FTBs purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Principality , and our solicitor is on the Principality conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Woolavington
It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Woolavington conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.
I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Woolavington. The Woolavington property was put into my name in April. I want to move. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in April. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. Most banks would take a pragmatic view as this provision primarily exists to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.
I have instructed a Woolavington property lawyer having checked that they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS 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 lawyer 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 Woolavington postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Coventry BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Woolavington.
I have been told that property searches are the primary reason for stalling in Woolavington conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Woolavington.
The deeds to our property can not be found. The lawyers who dealt with the conveyancing in Woolavington 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
As long as the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be recorded by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and secure up to date copies of the property title for a small fee. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Woolavington. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I purchased a studio flat in Woolavington, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Woolavington with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2091
You have 67 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.