My wife and I are planning to buy a house in Buckden and have instructed a Buckden conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Buckden conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Accreditation 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 Buckden lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Buckden what is the number one tip you can impart concerning the ownership transfer in Buckden
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Buckden or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, estate agent and on occasion your mortgage company. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Buckden an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the legal process whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.
There is a distinct increase in the "blame" culture- someone must be at fault for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your solicitor above the other players when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Buckden. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Coventry BS be concerned?
Given that your lender is Coventry BS your lawyer must follow the formal instructions contained in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Coventry BS. The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Coventry BS where a lease fails to satisfy these specifications. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Buckden.
I currently have a mortgage with Nationwide for my property in Buckden. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nationwide?
Your original mortgage agreement with Nationwide will provide that you need their approval before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nationwide’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nationwide will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nationwide directly. You need not do this via a Nationwide conveyancing panel firm.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Buckden. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £150. A few days later, the property lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Buckden and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Buckden conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Buckden. We have lived in Buckden for many years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to get clarification that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I was advised by three or four local selling agents in Buckden to choose a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over another?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for directing people our way. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Buckden with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Buckden can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives. Some Buckden leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Buckden home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible. The majority of landlords or managing agents in Buckden levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Buckden.
Buckden Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying
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Who are the managing agents? What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the apartment? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?