My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Ampthill and are in fact using a Ampthill conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays Direct have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Ampthill lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual 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 Accreditation 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Ampthill solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We are planning on selling our home in Ampthill and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Ampthill lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed a factory type conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Ampthill. Having lived in Ampthill for six years we know of no issue. Do we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
How does conveyancing in Ampthill differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Ampthill approach us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because house builders in Ampthill typically purchase the site, 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 conveyancers 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 Ampthill or who has acted in the same development.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Ampthill before appointing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Ampthill. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
In what way does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial offices in Ampthill and how can you help?
The particular law that you refer to affords security of tenure to commercial lessees, giving them the right to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of an expired lease. There are limited grounds where a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Ampthill is one of the many locations in which the firms we work with are located
22 days into purchasing a house in Ampthill. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the title is "Leasehold". Does this adversely affect our lender’s valuation?
Ampthill conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The key consideration here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a nominal rent, it's virtually freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value too much.
At the other extreme, if it's, say, 50 years it is bound to have a material effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the lender. The length of lease and ground rent will be set out in the lease provided to your conveyancer.