My wife and I are hoping to buy a property in Heaton and Jesmond and are in fact using a Heaton and Jesmond conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Heaton and Jesmond conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Heaton and Jesmond lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am getting closer to an exchange on a property in Heaton and Jesmond and my parents have transferred the exchange deposit to my property lawyer. I am now informed that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to disclose this to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the mortgage company about my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to hold matters up?
Your conveyancer is legally required to check with mortgage company to ensure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Heaton and Jesmond. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Heaton and Jesmond
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please supply a car parking plan.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a property in Heaton and Jesmond prior to instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Heaton and Jesmond. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Heaton and Jesmond especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Heaton and Jesmond.
Am I right to be suspicious about estate agents that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a web based conveyancing firm rather than a local Heaton and Jesmond conveyancing firm?
As with many service providers, often input from relatives can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and banks might all put forward lawyers to use. Sometimes these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying financial incentive behind the recommendation. You have the discretion to appoint your preferred lawyer. However, bear in mind that some banks specify a panel list of solicitors you are obliged to use for the lender aspect of your home move.
Midway through the sale of a leasehold flat in Heaton and Jesmond. Conveyancing lawyers are doing their job but we are being charged an extortionate amount by the managing agents. To date we have paid £225 for a leasehold management information and then a further £134.40 for responses to queries supplied by the buyers conveyancing practitioner.
Neither you or your conveyancing practitioner will have any sway over the extent of the fee for this information however the typical costs for the information for Heaton and Jesmond leasehold premises is £355. For Heaton and Jesmond conveyancing deals it is conventional for the owner to pay for these costs. The freeholder or their agents are not duty bound to address these questions although many will agree to do so - albeit often at high prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no statute that requires set fees for administrative tasks. Nor is there any set time frame by which they are required to issue the information.