My lawyer has uncovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Heath. The seller’s lawyers have offered title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor says that he must be satisfied that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company 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.
What is the first thing I need to know about purchase conveyancing in Heath?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Heath and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the vendor, selling agent and sometimes your bank. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in Heath is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the legal process whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.
We are witnessing a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor above all other players when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
My friend recommended that where I am purchasing in Heath I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Heath conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Heath around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local 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 maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Heath.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Heath?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Heath. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Heath before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders tend not grant a mortgage on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Heath. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Heath to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Heath. I have discover a site which seems to have the ideal answer If there is a chance to get all the legals done via phone that would be preferable. Should I be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?