I am one month into the sale of my flat in Aylestone and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Aylestone ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
Please help - my lawyer says that lack of planning permission insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Aylestone conveyancing?
The right level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Birmingham Midshires and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
is it true that all Aylestone conveyancing solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We previously selected conveyancing lawyers with offices in Aylestone on the Kent Reliance solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further fee for handling the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Kent Reliance but by your Aylestone solicitor. Numerous firms on the Kent Reliance panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Aylestone I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Aylestone in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
I have been pointed in your direction by two or three local estate agents in Aylestone to select a property lawyer using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers over and above another?
We don’t offer any referral fee for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
I am 14 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the local agent to perform conveyancing in Aylestone. We are not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
A solicitor would need to be really poor to suggest changing them. Has your loan offer been issued? If so you will need to inform them of the new solicitor and ensure the loan are issued to the new lawyers. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks panel to avoid added costs and complications. That should be your first question of the new solicitors. The find a solicitor tool will assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Aylestone
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Aylestone where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Aylestone conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Aylestone - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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Are there any major works anticipated that will add a premium to the service costs? The answer will be helpful as a) areas could result in problems in the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will want to know about it It would be sensible to discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Aylestone leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Aylestone. If you like the flatin Aylestone yet your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced difficult compromise.