Unfortunately I am unable to travel far from Markfield. Can you please spell out why all Markfield solicitors are not on all lender panels?
Banks tend to impose restrictions on either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such criteria being that the organisation needs to have at least two partners. As well as restricting the type of firm, some banks such as HSBC made a decision to restrict the number of organisations they permit to represent them. It is worth noting that banks have no accountability for the accuracy of advice provided by any Markfield conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Increases in mortgage fraud was a key driver in the culling of solicitor panels a few years ago notwithstanding that there are contrary thoughts concerning whether solicitors sat at the center of that fraud. Statistics published by the Land Registry indicates that thousands of law practices only carry out one or two conveyances annually. Those advocating conveyancing panel culls question why law firms deserve the right to be listed on a lender panel when it is evident that property law is not their speciality?
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Markfield costs more?
In short, leasehold conveyancing in Markfield and elsewhere usually involve extra work compared to freehold conveyancing. This includes lease investigation, liaising with the landlord concerning serving applicable notices, securing current service charge and management information, procuring the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – no matter how many different leaseholders have owned the lease since it was first granted.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Co-operative Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Markfield?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. 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.
I am helping my aunt sell her flat in Markfield. Will the solicitor commission the energy assessment or should I organise this?
Following the abolition of Home Packs, EPC’s was left as a required component of moving house. An EPC must be to hand in advance of the property being put on the market. It is not something that law firms normally arrange. If you are instructing a Markfield conveyancing practitioner they may help arrange EPC’s given their contacts with long established Markfield assessors
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Co-operative. Markfield conveyancing solicitors have been selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Co-operative?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Co-operative done the valuation? Have you advised Co-operative as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Markfield. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Shortly after, the solicitor called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.
What does a local search reveal concerning the house we're purchasing in Markfield?
Markfield conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations such as Searches UK The local search is essential in every Markfield conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Markfield. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Markfield
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.