I am progressing with the sale of my flat in Bristol and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are changing their property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Bristol ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal 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. Some 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. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
At what point can the exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Bristol and do I need to attend the conveyancers office?
Where you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Bristol you are welcome to attend to sign documents. However, the lender approved solicitors we work with supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The executing of the property agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the solicitor to officially exchange when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Bristol)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
My uncle passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Bristol. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Virgin Money, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Virgin Money will require that you use a conveyancer on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Virgin Money mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
What is different about your site and other online quote calculators when it comes to conveyancing in Bristol?
At this site secure an accurate costs illustration via a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer that has a full understanding of the issues of your conveyancing in Bristol. As opposed to estate agents and brokerage sites we do not charge firms a commission if you appoint them for your property ownership legalities in Bristol
I own a leasehold house in Bristol. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Bristol who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Bristol conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I invested in buying a studio flat in Bristol, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Bristol with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2091
With only 69 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
A licensed conveyancer handled my conveyancing in Bristol half a dozen years ago and was holding my title documents but has since been shut down – What steps do I now take to get hold of them?
Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Bristol are archived electronically at Land Registry. Should you need to show evidence of proprietorship or are selling or re-mortgaging your lawyer can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.