My friend's mother is a solicitor. I am hopeful that I will be offered preferential pricing for conveyancing, However if that does not come through, what kind of costs should I be paying for conveyancing in Alford?
You should compare pricing. Make use of our search tool on this site. Whilst quotes seem to contrast greatly but service levels do are distinct between conveyancers as is the case with most professions.
The Alford conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my purchase in Alford have without warning closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my preferred Alford lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away 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 Nationwide 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 lawyers should be in a position to assist.
A friend advised me that if I am purchasing in Alford I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Alford conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Alford around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Alford Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Alford.
The deeds to my house are lost. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Alford 4 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
Assuming you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be evidenced by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is possible to execute a search at the Land Registry, find your house and get current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Alford for my house move. Can I check a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
One may search for documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting 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 solicitors record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor telephone calls for training purposes.
My partner and I are buying a ground floor flat in Alford. When we first instructed lawyer, they assured us that they were on all mainstream bank panels. The financial adviser emailed today to advise that they don't appear to be on the Santander approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Should we just find a new conveyancer that is on their approved list or should we cover the costs for dual representation, with Santander appointing their own preferred solicitor.
Where you are purchasing a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the buyer’s lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a conveyancer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the conveyancing practitioner to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the conveyancer has to satisfy. Some lenders now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should call Santander 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 don't have to instruct a firm on Santander's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Alford lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another solicitor into the equation.