My husband and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Pentwyn and have appointed a Pentwyn conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Virgin Money have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Pentwyn solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Pentwyn solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are looking to buy a flat and require a conveyancing solicitor in Pentwyn who is on the Kent Reliance approved panel. Can you recommend a local firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Kent Reliance . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Pentwyn.
My wife and I are purchasing a house in Pentwyn. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we have to deposit our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
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.
My husband and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Co-operative as we intend to conduct alterations to our property in Pentwyn. Are we obliged to select a local Pentwyn solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Co-operative don't usually appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative list.
I have a mortgage with Bank of Ireland for my property in Pentwyn. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
Your original mortgage agreement with Bank of Ireland will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Bank of Ireland will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. You need not do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.
Should my solicitor be raising enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Pentwyn.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Pentwyn. There are those who purchase a property in Pentwyn, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their lawyers which will figure out the risks in Pentwyn. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard inquiry of the owner to determine whether the property has ever been flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the owner, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an incorrect reply. A purchaser’s lawyers will also order an environmental search. This will indicate whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be made.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Pentwyn in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to grant a loan on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Halifax. If you call us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Pentwyn. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Pentwyn to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Pentwyn. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Pentwyn should include some of the following:
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Changes to the property Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? How long the lease is. You should receive guidance as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years The total extent of the property. This may be the property itself but may include a roof area or storage are if appropriate.
Pentwyn Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
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Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Many Pentwyn leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block levied on behalf of the landlord. If you buy the flat you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically accross the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.