My partner and I are planning to acquire a property in Devizes and have instructed a Devizes conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Devizes solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Devizes lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Devizes?
If you are buying a property in Devizes your lawyer will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is needed to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is payable against the purchase price then this will be needed shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due will be payable shortly before completion.
We are selling our flat in Devizes. Will my conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nottingham conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently currently.
Will commercial conveyancing searches disclose proposed roadworks that could impact a commercial site in Devizes?
Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Devizes will execute a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Devizes. The search result sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Devizes.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Devizes it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to Devizes commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not carried out for domestic conveyancing in Devizes.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Devizes for my remortgage. Is it possible to see a firm’s record with the legal regulator?
Anyone can search for presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could recorded telephone calls for training requirements.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Devizes where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Devizes conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Devizes, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Devizes with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2088
With 63 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.