Our conveyancer has uncovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Grays. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer says that he must be satisfied that the lender is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
My wife and I are buying a house in Grays. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we have to deposit funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
A colleague pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Grays there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to a property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Grays which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Grays should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Grays conveyancer having checked that they are on the Principality conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Grays postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Principality, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Grays.
Various web forums that I have visited warn that are a common reason for delay in Grays house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Grays.
My wife and I purchased a semi-detached Victorian property in Grays. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. Is it worth asking The Royal Bank of Scotland to clarify?
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 Grays 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 purchasers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Grays is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Grays are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Grays you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Grays may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
To what extent are Grays conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to publish transparent conveyancing costs?
Contained within the Solicitors Code of Conduct are prescriptive rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, nevertheless, represent the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Grays or or elsewhere in the country.