It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in Avonmouth. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate my deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your mortgage company or they could stored with the conveyancers who acted in the purchase. Secondly in all probability the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Avonmouth relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more tricky but is resolvable.
The Avonmouth conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my purchase in Avonmouth have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my preferred Avonmouth lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will 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 relative informed me that in purchasing a property in Avonmouth there could be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Avonmouth which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Avonmouth should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nationwide, do Avonmouth solicitors incur a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Avonmouth solicitor - who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Barclays will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Barclays 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 solicitor 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 Avonmouth postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Avonmouth.
Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the main cause of stalling in Avonmouth house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Avonmouth.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Avonmouth with a loan from National Westminster Bank. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the side-deal as it may impact my loan with National Westminster Bank. Is this normal?.
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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Avonmouth I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Avonmouth suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.