My fiance and I are hoping to buy a flat in Baldock and have instructed a Baldock conveyancing firm. 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. Aldermore have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Baldock solicitor 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 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 mortgage company 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 the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Baldock lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We note that you have a post code search directory identifying solicitors on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our own conveyancing in Baldock?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Baldock.
A friend suggested that where I am buying in Baldock I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Baldock conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Baldock around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Baldock Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Baldock Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Baldock.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house can not be found. The lawyers who dealt with the conveyancing in Baldock 10 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?
Assuming the title is registered the details of your ownership will be documented by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is possible to perform a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and secure up to date copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.
I'm buying a new build house in Baldock with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my lawyer about the deal as it could adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Baldock prior to appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not grant a mortgage on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. If you call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Baldock. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Baldock especially if they are familiar with such properties in Baldock.