My wife and I are planning to purchase a house in Cotswolds and are in fact using a Cotswolds conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. TSB have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Cotswolds solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 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 and you may continue to use your own Cotswolds solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
The Cotswolds conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Cotswolds have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a firm on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my family Cotswolds lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
A relative informed me that in purchasing a property in Cotswolds there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Cotswolds which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Cotswolds should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Aldermore. Cotswolds conveyancing lawyers are appointed. How long does it take for Aldermore to send the offer to the solicitor?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Aldermore completed the valuation? Have you informed Aldermore as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Aldermore conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I currently have a mortgage with UBS for my property in Cotswolds. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform UBS?
You must advise UBS in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 UBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel lawyer.
My company is wishing to take over a lease of a shop on a shopping parade. Can you recommend lawyers offering no-sale-no fees for commercial conveyancing in Cotswolds for below £2000?
We can recommend firms who have well rounded knowledge of commercial conveyancing in Cotswolds, including the sale and purchase of businesses as well as simply premises. If you are intending to acquire or dispose of a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a whole business we can put you in touch with the right firm. Regarding the fees this will depend on the structure and heads of terms of the proposed transaction. Let us have your details or telephone so as to enable us to provide you with comprehensive commercial conveyancing quote.
My husband and I are 17 days into a freehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the selling agent to do our conveyancing in Cotswolds. I am am extremely frustrated with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
A lawyer would need to be really bad to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been issued? If so you must advise them of the new contact details and have the loan are issued to the new lawyers. The conveyancer should be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid added costs and complications. That should be your starting point. Our search tool will assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Cotswolds
I only have Sixty One years left on my lease in Cotswolds. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Cotswolds.
I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in Cotswolds, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Cotswolds with an extended lease are worth £175,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083
With only 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £23,800 and £27,400 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.