We see that you have a post code search directory identifying solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I instruct them for our conveyancing in Kirkstall?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Santander conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Kirkstall.
The Kirkstall conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Kirkstall have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel and my family Kirkstall lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Santander conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
I am purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Kirkstall. We would like to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will the conveyancing process include investigations to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?
Your conveyancer should review the registered title as conveyancing in Kirkstall will occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which restrict categories of works or necessitated the consent of another owner. Some extensions require local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Kirkstall. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Kirkstall. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Kirkstall in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to give a mortgage on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Kirkstall. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Kirkstall to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
We are 17 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the local agent to do our conveyancing in Kirkstall. I am not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
A lawyer would need to be very poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been issued? If so you must make them aware of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are re-sent. Your conveyancer should be on the lenders panel to avoid escalating expenses and delays. So that should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The search tool should assist you in finding a bank approved conveyancer for your home move in Kirkstall
What are the common deficiencies that you witness in leases for Kirkstall properties?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Kirkstall. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.
I acquired a garden flat in Kirkstall, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Kirkstall with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082
With 59 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £20,900 and £24,200 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.