My wife and I are looking to acquire a home in Castleford and have appointed a Castleford conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Bank of Ireland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Castleford conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Accreditation 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Castleford solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am buying a flat and require a conveyancing solicitor in Castleford who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Clydesdale in certain locations such as Castleford. We dont recommend any particular firm.
My partner and I are planning on selling our home in Castleford and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers instructed a nationwide conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Castleford. We have lived in Castleford for six years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? 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 health insurance to cover that same ailment)
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Castleford I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Castleford in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
Am I better off to go with a Castleford conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal formalities but her office is over three hundred kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Castleford conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute documents, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and they were content that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Castleford conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being based in the area.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Castleford. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Castleford, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Castleford with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2102
With just 78 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £7,600 and £8,800 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.