My husband and I are hoping to buy a flat in Horncastle and have instructed a Horncastle conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Barnsley Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Horncastle lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Horncastle 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.
Me and my partner are buying a house in Horncastle. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? On the day of competition we will need to put funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our money?
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.
I'm in the process of looking at flats in Horncastle and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have a property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Nottingham.
It would be prudent to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Nottingham, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Horncastle lawyer having checked that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Horncastle surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Will my lawyer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Horncastle.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Horncastle. There are those who buy a property in Horncastle, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Horncastle. The conventional set of information sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual question of the owner to find out if the premises has ever been flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser could bring a legal claim for losses resulting from an inaccurate reply. The purchaser’s solicitors may also conduct an environmental search. This will indicate if there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be carried out.
I have recentlybecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Horncastle for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I establish that my home is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest way to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Horncastle conveyancing specialists.
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £350,000 garden flat in Horncastle next week. The management company has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Horncastle?
Horncastle conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty to levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.
Horncastle Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing
-
It is important to be aware if a new roof is being installed or some other major work is pending to be shared by the leasehold owners and may well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance charges or necessitate a specific invoice. The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Can you inform me if there are any major works in the near future that will likely add a premium to the service costs?
I am an executor of my recently deceased mum’s Will, with a bungalow in Horncastle which is to be sold. The property is unregistered at the Land Registry and I'm advised that many EAs will insist that it is in place before they will proceed. What's the mechanism for this?
In the circumstances that you have set out it seems sensible to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.