I sincerely hope you can help me. My Cotham conveyancer is advising me that he has toorder Cotham conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Santanderconveyancing panel. Is my conveyancer correct?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a bank your solicitor has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Cotham conveyancing searches.
At what point will exchange of contracts take place for domestic conveyancing in Cotham and do I need to attend the conveyancers office?
Where you are near to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Cotham you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. That being said, the law practices we recommend provide a countrywide conveyancing service and give just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the purchase agreement is not the important part. A signed contract simply enables the conveyancer to exchange contracts at the appropriate time, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Cotham)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
We had appointed conveyancers with offices in Cotham on the Lloyds solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate amount for dealing with the Lloyds mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Lloyds?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner can levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Lloyds but by your Cotham solicitor. Numerous firms on the Lloyds panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many firms include it on their overall fee.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Cotham. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £150. Shortly after, the lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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.
Intending to buy a house in Cotham. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Cotham solicitor is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
My colleague advised me that where I am buying in Cotham I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Cotham conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Cotham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Cotham.
We are four weeks into a freehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the estate agent to do our conveyancing in Cotham. I am not happy. Can you help me find new solicitors?
They would need to be very poor to suggest changing them. Has the loan offer been issued? If so you need to advise them of the new conveyancer and have the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your new conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating expenses and frustration. That should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your home move in Cotham
There are only 72 years left on my lease in Cotham. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Cotham.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Cotham - A selection of Queries before buying
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Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Cotham obliged tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?