My husband and I are looking to buy a flat in Dolgellau and have appointed a Dolgellau conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Dolgellau solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of 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 Accreditation 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Dolgellau lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My uncle pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Dolgellau there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Dolgellau which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Dolgellau should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I am being told by my solicitor that defective lease insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Dolgellau conveyancing?
The right level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Santander and Barnsley Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
About to purchase maisonette in Dolgellau. 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 Leeds Building Society 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 Dolgellau conveyancing practitioner is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.
I am selling our property in Dolgellau and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers instructed a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Dolgellau. Having lived in Dolgellau for 5 years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Dolgellau?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Dolgellau. 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 am buying my first flat in Dolgellau with a loan from Halifax. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it may affect my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
We are in the middle of buying a residence in Dolgellau. Conveyancing lawyer has called to say the title is "Leasehold". Does this impact the salability of the property?
Dolgellau conveyancing does not in most situations involve leasehold houses. The key factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a nominal rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value significantly.
At the other extreme, if it's, say, fifty five years it is bound to have a material effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the bank. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be stated in the lease to be supplied to your conveyancing practitioner.