I can't travel far from Cowley. What is the rationale as to why all Cowley solicitors are not on all bank panels?
A decade ago most mortgage companies had an approach to risk which is different from today. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 instigated a thematic review into fraud which concluded: know the property lawyers on your panel. As a result, mortgage companies have since requiredmore information from law firms concerning their operations and the staff who work for them and set certain criteria such as completing a minimum amount of transactions. Thousands of law practices have found themselves excluded from lender panels even though they had 100% healthy track record, no complaints and zero claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Such firms were never going to satisfy the criteria of amount of transactions the mortgage companies required.
We are purchasing a brand new flat in Cowley and my conveyancer is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and my preference is not to prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My Solicitor in Cowley is not on the TSB Solicitor Panel. Can I still continue with my prefered solicitor even though they are not on the TSB panel?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Carry on with your preferred Cowley solicitors but TSB will need to retain a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal fees as well as result in frustration.
- Get an alternative lawyer to act in the purchase, not forgetting to check they are TSB approved.
- Try to convince your TSB solicitor to seek to join the TSB panel
My relative recommended that if I am purchasing in Cowley I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Cowley conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Cowley 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, Cowley Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Cowley.
I own a terraced Edwardian property in Cowley. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Clydesdale. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cowley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can one apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Cowley conveyancing firm to help?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Cowley flat is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 69 years.
What makes a Cowley lease unacceptable for security purposes?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Cowley. All leases are drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Mortgage Works, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.