My partner and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Foots Cray and have appointed a Foots Cray conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Foots Cray solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage 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 Quality 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Foots Cray lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Please help. My Foots Cray lawyer is informing me me that she is duty bound toconduct Foots Cray conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Nat Westapproved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
You have limited options available to you. As you are taking a mortgage with a bank your conveyancing practitioner has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Foots Cray conveyancing searches.
My Solicitor in Foots Cray is not listed on the Barclays Conveyancing Panel. Can I still continue with my prefered solicitor even though they are not on the Barclays approved list?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Foots Cray lawyers but Barclays will need to retain a lawyer on their panel. This will result in additional total legal charges as well as cause delays.
- Choose a new lawyer to act in the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are on the Barclays panel
It has been three months since my purchase conveyancing in Foots Cray took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am selling my house. My former conveyancers has retired. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. Im based in Foots Cray if that makes a difference.
Do use our search tool to help you choose a solicitor for your conveyancing in Foots Cray. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move goes with a minimum of fuss.
Last January I purchased a leasehold house in Foots Cray. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Foots Cray conveyancing firm to assist?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Foots Cray conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Foots Cray premises is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case related to 1 flat.