My husband and I are looking to buy a home in Newham and are in fact using a Newham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Newham solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Newham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
It is is a decade since I acquired my property in Newham. Conveyancing solicitors have just been instructed on the sale but I am unable to locate the title documents. Is this a major issue?
Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be with your mortgage company or they may still be with the solicitor who oversaw your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Newham involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to pop into the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Newham so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
As opposed to ten years ago, most banks no longer need their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the mortgagors signature. It will still be necessary for you to provide ID documents and there are still distinct benefits to choosing a locally based solicitor, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Newham.
I am helping my mother sell her house in Newham. Does the conveyancing solicitor commission the energy assessment or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a required part of moving house. An EPC should be commissioned in advance of the property being advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms ordinarily arrange. If you are instructing a Newham conveyancing solicitor they might help arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established local accredited person
Is it the case that all Newham solicitor firms on the Skipton conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Newham. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Nottingham have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Nottingham your lawyer must comply with the conveyancing instructions outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nottingham. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Nottingham where a lease does not meet these specifications. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not isolated to Newham.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for obstruction in Newham conveyancing transactions. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Newham.
Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Newham. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Newham who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Newham conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Newham conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to calculate the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Newham premises is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 69.77 years.