I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Northolt and the EA has just called to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Northolt ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Northolt? What am I being asked for?
It is indeed that case that the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Northolt. Nowadays you can not proceed with any conveyancing process if you have not supplying proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it must be both the paper part and photo card part, one is not sufficient without the other.
Verification of the source of money is required in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your lawyer must retain this information on file. Your Northolt conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any monies from you into their client account and they should also ask additional queries regarding the source of funds.
My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Northolt. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? On the day of competition we have to send our life savings into their account. What is the protection 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.
I am helping my step-mother sell her property in Northolt. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange an energy assessment or it is for the owner to see to?
After the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments was retained a mandatory part of moving house. An EPC must be to hand before the property is placed on the market. It is not a task that solicitors ordinarily arrange. Where you are instructing a Northolt conveyancing solicitor they might help arrange EPC’s given their relationships with long established local providers
Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Northolt solicitor - who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Northolt postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Northolt.
I am purchasing my first flat in Northolt benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my conveyancer about this extras as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, but the estate agent informed us that the vendor will only move forward if we appoint their chosen solicitors as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Northolt
We suspect that the owner is not behind this demand. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Northolt conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn their negotiator at the agency a kickback or achieve conveyancing targets demanded by HQ.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Northolt. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Northolt - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Northolt. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Northolt residence is GFF 1 Holyrood Avenue in May 2014. The Tenant wished to acquire a new (extended) lease and applied to the Willesden County Court who granted a vesting order on 20* March2013. The Tribunal decied that the premium to be paid was £9,062 This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 79 years.