we are a couple who are purchasing a newbuild flat in Kempston with a residential mortgage from Nationwide Building Society.We have a Kempston conveyancing solicitor but Nationwide Building Society says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we are left with little choice but to instruct a Nationwide Building Society panel solicitor or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Nationwide Building Society use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The loan issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that conveyancers must be on the Nationwide Building Society approved list. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Nationwide Building Society
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Bank of Ireland. Kempston conveyancing lawyers were chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Bank of Ireland?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Bank of Ireland completed the survey? Have you informed Bank of Ireland as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I currently have a mortgage with Leeds Building Society for my property in Kempston. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?
Leeds Building Society must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Leeds Building Society will permit you to let 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 solicitor.
My sealed bid on a semi in Kempston has been accepted, the sellers do however have a tied purchase. The sellers have offered on somewhere, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a high street conveyancing solicitor in Kempston. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with UBS?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Kempston conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the UBS approved list. As to the next phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, desire for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some purchasers would apply for a home loan with UBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their solicitor to proceed with searches.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Kempston before retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders tend refuse to give a loan on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Kempston. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Kempston especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Kempston.
I am looking to sell my house. My former conveyancers closed down. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in Kempston if that makes things easier.
Do use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in Kempston. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with lender approved solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs smoothly.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Kempston where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Kempston conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Kempston Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?
My mortgage broker has suggested using their conveyancer for our conveyancing in Kempston - won’t it be advisable to just instruct them?
It is not always the case and you are free to opt for whichever solicitor of your choosing for your Kempston home move. The conveyancer put forward by an estate agent may not always be the right conveyancing practitioner, they may suggest their own conveyancing firm who are based far away. In this instance you may not have contact with your conveyancing practitioner and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.