My wife and I are looking to purchase a property in Chatham and are in fact using a Chatham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nottingham Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Chatham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Chatham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Can the conveyancing solicitors listed on your site carry out attended exchange conveyancing in Chatham?
There are a few conveyancing experts who can conduct personalised exchanges. Do call us to get a conveyancing quote and details as to availability.
As someone unfamiliar with the Chatham conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can give me concerning the home moving process in Chatham
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Chatham and elsewhere in Kent is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for friction between you and other parties involved in the home moving process. E.g., the seller, estate agent and on occasion your lender. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Chatham should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the process whose responsibility is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your solicitor above the other parties in the conveyancing process.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Chatham?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Chatham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Chatham. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently received a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all ground rent and service payments should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I inherited a basement flat in Chatham, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2000. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Chatham with over 90 years remaining are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2087
You have 61 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £19,000 and £22,000 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
How easy is it to change a solicitor as I need to find a Chatham based firm who is on the lender conveyancing panel. Is it practical to instruct different lawyers?
In the event that you have not formally appointed a solicitor to start work and at this stage simply received an estimate as to costs, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer in Chatham that you're considering.