Our lawyer has discovered a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Little Burstead. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer says that he must check that the mortgage company is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your solicitor will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Little Burstead? What am I being asked for?
It is indeed that case that these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Little Burstead. However these days you can not proceed with any conveyancing transaction in the absence handing over proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a utility bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as evidence of ID it must be both the paper element as well as the photo card part, one is not sufficient in the absence of the other.
Verification of the source of money is required under Money Laundering Regulations. Please do not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your lawyer must retain this information on file. Your Little Burstead conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any funds from you into their client account and they may also ask further queries regarding the origin of funds.
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold property in Little Burstead. The estate agents assure me that it is usual for flats in Little Burstead to have less than 75 years remaining. I am expecting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has Seventy One years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 20/5/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my property can not be found. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Little Burstead 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
As long as the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and obtain current copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Little Burstead in advance of appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks may not give a loan on this type of house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Little Burstead. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Little Burstead especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Little Burstead.
Is it best to use a Little Burstead conveyancing practitioner based in the location that I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the legal formalities but her office is 400miles drive away.
The benefit of a local Little Burstead conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to execute documents, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and in the main were content that must outweigh using an unknown Little Burstead conveyancing solicitor just because they are Little Burstead based.