My husband and I are hoping to purchase a home in Huddersfield and have appointed a Huddersfield conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Huddersfield lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Huddersfield lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My lawyer in Huddersfield is not on the Nottingham Building Society Solicitor Panel. Can I still use my prefered solicitor even though they are excluded from the Nottingham Building Society panel?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Huddersfield lawyers but Nottingham Building Society will need to use a solicitor on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional overall legal charges as well as result in frustration.
- Get an alternative solicitor to act in the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Persuade your lawyer to use their best endeavours to join the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel
About to purchase a new build apartment in Huddersfield. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Huddersfield
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Huddersfield in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders will not grant a loan on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Huddersfield. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Huddersfield. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, but I have recently had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all ground rent and maintenance invoices will be allotted on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Huddersfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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It would be sensible to discover as much as possible regarding the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of their management. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that the service fees are due to the relevant party and precisely what you get for your money. Where a Huddersfield lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for 24 months before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension.
I yesterday found out that one of the partners of the solicitors handling the purchase conveyancing in Huddersfield is a relative of the seller. Is this acceptable?
As long as no conflict arises this is allowable. Where you are obtaining mortgage finance then the lender may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific instructions concerning this. For example for Halifax Loans as of 19/9/2020, the requirements read as follows :