I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (five years built) in Hungerford. Almost all the flats have already been sold. Is it really necessary to order local searches for my conveyancing in Hungerford?
If you are purchasing a property with the assistance of a loan, your mortgage company will need some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Hungerford conveyancing searches are optional. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you choose to instruct your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Hungerford.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my property in Hungerford. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the deeds. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be with your mortgage company or they could be archived with the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Hungerford relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
I have a mortgage with Leeds Building Society for my property in Hungerford. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?
You must advise Leeds Building Society prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Leeds Building Society directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel lawyer.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Hungerford. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Hungerford on 2/12/2020, valuation was booked 3 days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Yorkshire BS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Yorkshire BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Hungerford. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Hungerford of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Hungerford differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Hungerford approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is finished. This is because new home sellers in Hungerford tend to purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Hungerford or who has acted in the same development.
What tools are available to search for a Hungerford law firm on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am prepared to travel upto 20kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the tool on this website. Please choose the bank and your location and you will see a number of Hungerford conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Hungerford conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can call them to see if they are on the Clydesdale approved list