My partner and I are acquiring a brand new flat in Heston and my lawyer is telling me that she has to the lender to disclose incentives from the seller. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and I would rather not delay the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Leeds Building Society. Heston conveyancing lawyers are appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Leeds Building Society?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Leeds Building Society completed the valuation? Have you informed Leeds Building Society as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I have paid off my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Heston conveyancing practitioner on the Barclays panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Barclays mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Our offer on a house in Heston has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have placed an offer on a flat, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Heston. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Nottingham?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Heston conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Nottingham approved list. As to the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market many buyers will apply for a home loan with Nottingham and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Heston 5 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
As long as the title is registered the details of your ownership will be recorded by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is possible to carry out a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and obtain current copies of the property title for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Heston ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not give a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Heston. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Heston especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Heston.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing solicitor in Heston for my house move. Is there any facility to see a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?
Members of the public may see published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations started on or after 1 January 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find records Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could recorded telephone calls for training purposes.
I have just discovered that one of the partners of the firm acting on the purchase conveyancing in Heston is an aunty of the vendor. Is this permitted?
On the basis that there is no conflict of interest this is allowable. If you are requiring mortgage finance then the bank may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific instructions on this. For example for Coventry Building Society as of 27/1/2023, the requirements read as follows :