My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Brymbo and have appointed a Brymbo 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. Chelsea Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Brymbo conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Brymbo lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
The vendors of the house we are hoping to buy have appointed a conveyancing firm in Brymbo who has suggested a lock out agreement with a payment of 5k. Are such agreements sensible?
There are a couple of main drawbacks with entering into any lock out agreement (also referred to as a no-shop agreement) is that it can distract from progressing with the conveyancing work, so in the absence of it needing limited or no negotiation then it could turn out to be a cause of frustration and delay. It is not particularly popular by Brymbo conveyancing lawyers for this reason. A supplemental negative is the extent of the remedies available - a jilted purchaser should not expect to win an injunction to bar the owner completing the sale to an alternative purchaser, so the only remedy available under the contract will be the recovery of wasted costs and, in limited situations, the extra payment of damages.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my property in Brymbo. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by the lender or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in your purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Brymbo involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
Should my solicitor be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Brymbo.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Brymbo. Plenty of people will purchase a property in Brymbo, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Brymbo. The standard information sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard question of the vendor to discover whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate answer. The purchaser’s solicitors may also carry out an environmental search. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries will need to be carried out.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Brymbo. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Brymbo
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?
I have been recommended by a number of estate agents in Brymbo to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers ahead of a competitor’s?
We refuse to offer any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.