We are buying a newly constructed flat in Barnard Castle and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the lender to disclose incentives from the builder. I am on a tight deadline to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
As a FTB what is the most important advice you can give me about purchase conveyancing in Barnard Castle?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Barnard Castle and elsewhere in County Durham is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the seller, selling agent and even potentially the lender. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Barnard Castle an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the transaction whose interest is to protect your best interests and to protect you.
Sometimes a third party with a vested interest will attempt to convince you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For example, the estate agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your solicitor is slow. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do something that is against your lawyers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
I have an AIP. The bank mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to appoint their panel lawyer as I would much rather appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Barnard Castle?
You should check but the the probability is that allocate you one of their panel conveyancers where you accept the "fee-free" incentive. Contact the mortgage company and explore if they make available a cash alternative. Some mortgage companies have previously offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Barnard Castle.
My father pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Barnard Castle there could be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Barnard Castle which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Barnard Castle should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
My husband and I have arranged the release of further funds on our mortgage from Nationwide as we intend to conduct alterations to our house in Barnard Castle. Do we need to select a local Barnard Castle solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Nationwide would not normally require a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Nationwide panel.
Barclays have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a house in Barnard Castle has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your estate agent will want to be advised as to your lawyer's details (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Barclays or your financial adviser and finalise any appropriate forms. Barclays will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Barclays will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Barnard Castle.
I bought my home on 8 August and the transaction details is yet to be registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Barnard Castle expressed confidence that it would be concluded inside ten days. Are titles in Barnard Castle uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Barnard Castle registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timeframes can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any other parties. As of today approximately three quarters of submission are fully dealt with in less than three weeks but some can be subject to extensive delays. Historically registration takes place once the new owner is living at the property thus an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Barnard Castle prior to appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will refuse to give a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can check via 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 Barnard Castle. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Barnard Castle to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.