We are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Luton with a mortgage. We have a Luton lawyer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our Luton solicitor as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not insist that the bank use our Luton conveyancing practitioner ?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: 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. A further alternative is for your Luton conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Our son-in-law is buying a house that has just been built in Luton with a home loan from Virgin Money. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Luton. The house had a small mortgage remaining of approximately £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to RBS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
If you intend to refinance then RBS will require that you use a conveyancer on the RBS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the RBS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Luton. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? On the day of competition we have to put funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Luton. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Luton?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Luton. Your solicitors will transfer the purchase money to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you should be invited to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Luton. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I purchased my home on 6 June and my personal details are still not registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Luton expressed confidence that it should be formalised in a couple of weeks. Are properties in Luton uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Luton registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timeframes can vary depending on the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry need to notify any other parties. At present roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to longer hold-ups. Registration takes place once the buyer is living at the property therefore post completion formalities is not always top priority yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Luton where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Luton conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Luton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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How long is the Lease? Is anyone aware of any major works anticipated that could increase the service fees? How is the lease structured?