My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Lightwater and have instructed a Lightwater conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. TSB have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Lightwater lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Lightwater solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am nearing an exchange on a house in Lightwater and my mum and dad have sent the ten percent deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now advised that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the mortgage company regarding my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?
Your property lawyer is duty bound to check with lender to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only reveal this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in Lightwater for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage company Clydesdale won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Lenders normally imposes restrictions either the type or the amount of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such criteria being that a law practice must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few banks have reduced the number of solicitor practices they use to act for them. You should note that Clydesdale have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Clydesdale Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the reduction of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there are mixed views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that hundreds of law firms, including some in or near Lightwater only carry out one or two conveyances a year.
How does conveyancing in Lightwater differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Lightwater contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because developers in Lightwater usually acquire the site, 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Lightwater or who has acted in the same development.
Taking into account that I will soon part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Lightwater I would like to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thehome move before appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
Absolutely - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor who will be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Lightwater.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Lightwater should be the figure that you end up paying.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Lightwater. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Lightwater Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other significant cost is pending to be shared amongst the tenants and will materially increase the the service charges or result in a specific payment. For many Lightwater leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Lightwater obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.