All was ready to move into my new home in Lancashire next Tuesday. I have now been asked to send a copy of my building insurance schedule by my solicitor as as she informs me that she is duty bound to validate that it is in order for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?
Any lawyer on acting for lenders would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions. These obligations are not limited to conveyancing in Lancashire.
The Lancashire conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Lancashire have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel and my previous Lancashire lawyer was not. I paid them funds on account. What are my options?
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 Coventry BS 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.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the main cause of hinderance in Lancashire house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Lancashire.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Lancashire?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Lancashire. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I am one month into a leasehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to execute conveyancing in Lancashire. I am am starting to be dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
A conveyancer would need to be really bad to suggest replacing them. Has the loan offer been issued? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and have the mortgage documents are re-sent. The solicitor ideally should be on the mortgage company panel to avoid escalating costs and frustration. That should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool will help you find a bank approved lawyer for your home move in Lancashire
My fiance and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom flatin Lancashire with a loan from a mortgage company. We like our solicitor in Lancashire yet our bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the our bank panel firms or keep our Lancashire conveyancer and incur the extra fees for one of their panel ones to represent our mortgage company. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage company mortgage issued is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the lender's conveyancing panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including most conveyancing solicitors in Lancashire : 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. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your bank.