My fiance and I are planning to purchase a flat in Ely and are in fact using a Ely conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Ely lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard 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 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 Ely lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I have given 2 months notice to my existing landlord and must leave my let out property in Ely by the end of next month. Conveyancing on my purchase has just started. Is it possible to complete in 5 weeks as I wish to avoid having to find short term accommodation?
It is unwise to provide notice for your letting until your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not previously done so, contact to your solicitor and request that they seek the assistance the sellers side, try to get a realistic time scale from them that everyone will look towards
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Ely. I I would like to check if they are accepted on the Birmingham Midshires approved list of lawyers. Could you advise?
You should call the solicitor and enquire whether they can act for the lender. Alternatively please call Birmingham Midshires who may be able to assist.
A relative recommended that where I am purchasing in Ely I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Ely conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Ely around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 House Prices, Crime details, Ely Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Ely.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Ely 10 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?
As long as the title is registered the details of your ownership will be recorded by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, find your house and secure up to date copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for twenty pounds.
How does conveyancing in Ely differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Ely come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is finished. This is because house builders in Ely tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Ely or who has acted in the same development.