My wife and I are planning to acquire a home in Leyland and are in fact using a Leyland conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Ireland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Leyland conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Leyland lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Leyland. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I can't locate my title documents. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a chance that the deeds will be retained by the lender or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who handled the purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Leyland involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it is more of a problem but is not insurmountable.
My colleague suggested that if I am buying in Leyland I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Leyland conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Leyland around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Leyland Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Leyland.
How does conveyancing in Leyland differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Leyland contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is finished. This is because house builders in Leyland typically buy the land, 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 conveyancers 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 Leyland or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Leyland is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Leyland are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Leyland you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Leyland may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I'm remortgaging my existing house to a BTL mortgage with Coventry Building Society and intend to use the remaining equity towards further house. The area we are looking at is Leyland. Will your lawyers be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and tie in the transactions?
Do use our search tool on this site to check that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. On the basis that they are your lawyer should be able to connect the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you solicitor and communicate your expectations and requirements.