It is 10 years ago since I acquired my home in Llanddulas. Conveyancing lawyers have just been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find my title deeds. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be retained by the lender or they could stored with the solicitor who handled the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Llanddulas relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is removed from the Virgin Money Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Llanddulas?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
My relative recommended that if I am buying in Llanddulas I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Llanddulas conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Llanddulas around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Llanddulas Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Llanddulas.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Llanddulas with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it will affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one close by in Llanddulas I like with a park and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Llanddulas for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
Is it simple use your search facility to find a conveyancing lawyer in Llanddulas on the approved list for my mortgage?
Step one is to select a lender such as Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society or Aldermore then choose your preferred area e.g. Llanddulas. Conveyancing organisations in Llanddulas and nationally should be identified.