Can you help? My Reddish solicitor is informing me me that he is legally obliged toconduct Reddish conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Lloydssolicitor panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Reddish conveyancing searches.
My fiance and I decided to purchase a purpose built apartment in Reddish with a homeloan from Birmingham Midshires.We use our Reddish conveyancing practitioner but Birmingham Midshires says her practice is not listed on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Birmingham Midshires panel firm or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Birmingham Midshires use our lawyer?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you contains various provisions, a common one being that solicitors will be on the Birmingham Midshires approved list. in the past, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Birmingham Midshires
I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Reddish. The Reddish property was put into my name in December. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. Most mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this provision is primarily there to identify subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
I have paid off my mortgage with Principality. I assume I don't need a Reddish solicitor on the Principality panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Principality 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 Principality mortgage from the register. Principality, 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 Principality has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Principality has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Reddish. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
Will my solicitor be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Reddish.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in Reddish. There are those who buy a house in Reddish, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that may be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Reddish. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual question of the seller to find out whether the property has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer could bring a claim for damages as a result of such an inaccurate reply. A buyer’s solicitors may also commission an enviro search. This should higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be initiated.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Reddish before appointing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Reddish. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Reddish to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Reddish. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Reddish who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Reddish conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Reddish Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying
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This information is useful as a) areas can result in problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details How long is the Lease? Does the lease include onerous restrictions?