I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Chadderton and the estate agent has just text me to say that the buyers are switching property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Chadderton ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for over 25 years.
Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say 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. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
The sellers of the property we are hoping to buy have appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Chadderton who has suggested a exclusivity agreement with a deposit 6,000. Are such contracts generally advanced for Chadderton conveyancing transactions?
There are a couple of main concerns with executing a lock out agreement (occasionally termed a shut-out contract) is that it can distract from progressing with the conveyancing process, so in the absence of it needing little or no negotiation then it could turn out to be a cause of frustration and delay. It is not particularly popular by Chadderton conveyancing solicitors for this reason. A supplemental negative is the extent of the remedies available - a jilted purchaser is not likely to obtain an injunctive ruling by a court to prevent the vendor disposing of the property to an alternative purchaser, so the only remedy open via the agreement will be the reimbursement of wasted charges and, in rare circumstances, the additional payment of penalties.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Chadderton is more expensive?
In short, leasehold conveyancing in Chadderton and Greater Manchester usually necessitates extra due diligence compared to freehold transactions. This includes reviewing the lease, communicating with the landlord about serving required notices, securing current service charge and management information, securing the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first entered into.
Is it correct that all Chadderton CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Barclays conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
My husband and I have organised the release of further monies on our home loan from Yorkshire BS as we intend to carry out improvements to our home in Chadderton. Do we need to choose a local Chadderton solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Yorkshire BS don't usually require a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS panel.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Chadderton. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £150. Soon after, the property lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Chadderton I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Chadderton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a home loan that many years may be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months 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 current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Chadderton. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Chadderton who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?
First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Chadderton conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Chadderton, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Chadderton with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2082
You have 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 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 without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.