My partner and I are looking to buy a property in Queensbury and are in fact using a Queensbury conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barnsley Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Queensbury conveyancer 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' solicitors 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Queensbury solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My solicitor has uncovered a a problem with the lease for the property we are buying in Queensbury. The other side have offered title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must check that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the bank does not mean to say that the property will meet their requirements for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. You and the lender are the client. The appropriate lender conditions must be adhered to.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Queensbury. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?
Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you now have to hire the services of a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you now have a pending a fixed date to complete the property. An auction property should have an associated legal set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold property the legal papers should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You should hand this to the conveyancer instructed by you at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that you have funds organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
My wife and I buying a 3 bedroom semi in Queensbury. The intention is to carry out a loft conversion at the property.Will legal investigations on the property involve enquiries to see if these alterations are allowed?
Your conveyancer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Queensbury will on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain changes or need the permission of another owner. Certain works require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Queensbury. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £150. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
In what way does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business offices in Queensbury and how can you help?
The 1954 Act affords security of tenure to business lessees, giving them the a statutory right to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease comes to an end. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Queensbury is one of our hundreds of areas of the UK in which our lawyers are based
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Queensbury both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are plenty of short leases in Queensbury. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorates and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.
Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Queensbury. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Queensbury property is 20 Orchard Court Stonegrove in June 2009. The tribunal decided that a premium of £11,040 should be payable for the new lease This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.55 years.
Me and mywife and I are in the market for a trustworthy conveyancing lawyer in Queensbury to help me sell my place. I I am fearful of appointing the wrong one and there are plenty Queensbury conveyancing firms to choose from...how do I know which one is best to select?
If you have not instructed a conveyancer in the past, a trustworthy recommendation via relatives or friends is a preferable starting point and is often a good gauge of quality. As an alternative option, take a look at the client feedback published on your conveyancer’s website or make use of our search facility to find a conveyancing lawyer in Queensbury.