My wife and I are planning to buy a home in Gosport and have instructed a Gosport conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Gosport conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers 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 mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Gosport 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.
My grandfather passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Gosport. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £4500. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Kent Reliance, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then Kent Reliance will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Kent Reliance mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I need this when purchasing a house in Gosport? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that homeowners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards maintenance towards the chancel within the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Gosport?
Unless a previous acquisition of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you could take it that conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Gosport to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
It has been four months following my purchase conveyancing in Gosport concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 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 property 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.
My husband and I are one month into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to handle our conveyancing in Gosport. I am am very disappointed with the quality of service. Could you help me find new lawyers?
They would have to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been issued? If so you need to advise them of the new conveyancer and ensure the offer are re-sent. The solicitor ideally should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating costs and delays. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. The find a solicitor tool will assist you in finding a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Gosport
Why do Gosport conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
Inevitably there is more work involved in leasehold conveyancing. Gosport has many leasehold properties. There is more time involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including current service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.