We are purchasing a newly constructed duplex in Eastwood and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the developer. I am under pressure to sign contracts and my preference is not to delay deal. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a mortgage company 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.
I am selling my home in Eastwood. Will the conveyancer have to be required to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Aldermore 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 specifications fairly frequently currently.
My wife and I are downsizing from our home in Eastwood and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers used a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Eastwood. Having lived in Eastwood for 5 years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You must 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 health insurance to cover that same illness)
Me and my brother have a renovated Edwardian house in Eastwood. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Santander. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Eastwood and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I am buying a new build house in Eastwood with a loan from Barclays Direct. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it may affect my mortgage with Barclays Direct. Is this normal?.
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.
What are my options where I am not happy with the property lawyer who handled my conveyancing in Eastwood?
We live in an imperfect world, and unfortunately occasionally matters do not go as planned. Nevertheless there is recourse if you were not happy with your conveyancing in Eastwood. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a solicitor to their regulator. If things still aren’t resolved you may consider enlisting the help of the Legal Ombudsman.