I am purchasing a terrace house in Falmouth. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will legal due diligence on the property include enquiries to determine if these alterations are allowed?
Your solicitor will check the registered title as conveyancing in Falmouth will sometimes identify restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit categories of alterations or need the permission of another owner. Some works require local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
Is it correct that all Falmouth CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing list of approved solicitors?
It is true that some lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Falmouth. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My friend suggested that where I am buying in Falmouth I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Falmouth conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Falmouth around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Falmouth Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Falmouth.
I purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Falmouth. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Falmouth and other areas of 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 check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Falmouth before appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to grant a loan on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Falmouth. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Falmouth to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
How simple is it to change solicitor as I have to instruct a firm on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing list. I instructed a family conveyancing solicitor in Falmouth five minutes from me but she is not accepted by Nottingham Building Society
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Falmouth on the Nottingham Building Society panel. Please note that the law firms that we list do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are under regulation of the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Falmouth. In utilising the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Falmouth.
We are planning to purchase a 2 room maisonettein Falmouth with a loan from a lender. We like our solicitor in Falmouth yet our bank advise he's not on their "panel". Apparently we need to choose one of the our lender panel firms or keep our Falmouth solicitor and incur the extra fees for one of their panel ones to represent our lender. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The bank mortgage offered to you is subject to conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the lender's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most mortgage companies had open panels, including almost all conveyancing solicitors in Falmouth : a mortgagee could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.