What is the first thing I need to know about purchase conveyancing in Old Swan?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Old Swan and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the home moving process. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and even potentially your lender. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Old Swan an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the transaction whose role it is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.
Sometimes a potential adversary may try and persuade you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the property agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your lawyer is slow. Or your financial adviser may try to convince you to do take action that is contrary to your conveyancers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
The Old Swan conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Old Swan have without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel and my preferred Old Swan lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the RBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
I am assisting my sister sell her property in Old Swan. Will the solicitor arrange an energy assessment or it is for the owner to see to?
Following the demise of HIPs, EPC’s was kept a required component of selling a house. An energy assessment must be commissioned prior to the property being advertised. It is not a task that law firms ordinarily arrange. Where you are instructing a Old Swan conveyancing lawyer they might be able to arrange energy assessments given their relationships with reputable Old Swan assessors
Is it the case that all Old Swan solicitors on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Clydesdale approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. Many lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the CLC.
I have paid off my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Old Swan conveyancer on the Co-operative panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Co-operative mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business premises in Old Swan and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to gives security of tenure to business leaseholders, granting the dueness to make a request to court for a renewal lease and remain in occupation when the lease reaches an end. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Old Swan is one of our numerous locations in which our lawyers are located
My husband and I are 17 days into a residential purchase having been directed to a firm by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in Old Swan. I am am starting to be disappointed with the level of service. Could you help me find new solicitors?
A lawyer would have to be really poor in order to consider changing them. Has the mortgage offer been sent? If so you need to make them aware of the replacement conveyancer and ensure the loan are re-issued. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid added charges and delays. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. The search tool can help you find a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Old Swan
I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Old Swan. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you pay the invoice as usual because all rents and maintenance invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I acquired a basement flat in Old Swan, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable flats in Old Swan with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2090
With just 66 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.