Should conveyancers request an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Bedford?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bedford your solicitor will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Generally this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the down payment is as part of the purchase price then this should be asked for immediately before contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.
My Conveyancer in Bedford is not on the Halifax Approved Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Halifax panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Bedford solicitors but Halifax will need to retain a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional total legal charges and cause delays.
- Find a new lawyer to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Halifax approved.
- Try to convince your Halifax solicitor to attempt to join the Halifax panel
Are all Bedford Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing list of approved practices?
It is true that some banks and building societies now utilise CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
We previously chose conveyancing lawyers located in Bedford on the Skipton solicitor panel. They have just billed me a further sum for dealing with the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Skipton?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Skipton but by your Bedford conveyancer. Numerous firms on the Skipton panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Lloyds. Is it usual for Lloyds to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Bedford is approved on their conveyancing panel? Lloyds have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Lloyds to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a residence in Bedford?
Unless a prior acquisition of the house completed post 12 October 2013 you can expect conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Bedford to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but live in Bedford. My conveyancer (based 200 miles awayhas requested that I execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Bedford who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Bedford
I work for a long established estate agency in Bedford where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Bedford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as 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 buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is 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.
I acquired a 2 bed flat in Bedford, conveyancing having been completed December 2008. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Bedford with an extended lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2087
With just 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £17,100 and £19,800 plus professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.