I am selling my ground floor flat in Ripley and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are changing their solicitor. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Ripley ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Banks justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
The Ripley conveyancing firm handling our Ripley conveyancing has discovered a difference between the surveyor’s assumptions in the home valuation survey and what is in the conveyancing documents. My lawyer informs me that he is obliged to ensure that the bank is OK with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my lawyer’s course or action legitimate?
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
The Ripley conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Ripley have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and my previous Ripley lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Bank of Ireland 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Ripley I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ripley suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the property agent informed us that the owners will only proceed if we appoint the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a family conveyancer used to conveyancing in Ripley
We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Ripley conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or achieve conveyancing figures set by HQ.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in Ripley. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Ripley, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Ripley with a long lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2082
With just 58 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £21,900 and £25,200 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.