I was told recently by my lender that my Hornsey the law firm I have appointed is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I be certain that this is indeed the case?
Your first step should be to call your Hornsey conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Hornsey conveyancing practice that is on the conveyancing panel for your bank.
It is 10 years ago since I purchased my house in Hornsey. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I can't find the deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be kept by the lender or they could be archived with the solicitor who handled the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Hornsey involves registered property but in the rare situation where your home is not registered it is more of a problem but is not insurmountable.
Do I need to attend the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Hornsey so that I can attend their offices if required.
Whereas this was necessary 12 years ago, the vast majority banks no longer need their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. It will still be necessary for you to supply identification documents and there are still manifest advantages to instructing a locally based solicitor, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Hornsey.
I am planning on selling our house in Hornsey and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed an online conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Hornsey. Having lived in Hornsey for 5 years we know of no issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Hornsey I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Hornsey for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the bank conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the lender approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the mortgage company conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the lender solicitor panel.