We are about to exchange contracts for a freehold house in Northolt. We have hit a snag. Our mortgage offer with Santander expires on 12/5/2023 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 16/5/2023. Can one extend the mortgage expiry date?
The best person to deal with your concern is your solicitors who will assess whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage company, seller’s lawyers, property agents or conceivably all parties given the circumstances your house move to date.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Bank of Ireland, do Northolt solicitors face an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Can I be sure that the Northolt conveyancing solicitor on the Santander panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Northolt seeking recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always advocate that you speak with the lawyer carrying out your transaction.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Northolt. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Shortly after, the solicitor called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
My colleague suggested that where I am buying in Northolt I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Northolt conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Northolt around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Northolt Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Northolt Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Northolt.
I have a terraced Victorian house in Northolt. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Skipton Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Northolt and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Northolt is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in Northolt are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Northolt you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northolt may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Our lawyer in Northolt is asking me for personal identification documents asserting that this forms part of his requirements as a solicitor on the bank Solicitor panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require Northolt conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Terms and Conditions that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the mortgage company also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the bank's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements