My husband and I are planning to acquire a home in Rumney and have appointed a Rumney conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Rumney conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal 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 solicitor should contact your lender 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rumney solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Rumney costs more?
Rumney leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Rumney with a mortgage from Nottingham Building Society. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my solicitor about the extras as it will adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Rumney before retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks may not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Rumney. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Rumney to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
My husband and I are one month into a freehold purchase having been recommend to a firm by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Rumney. We are not happy. Could you help me find new solicitors?
They would need to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been sent? In the event that it has you must inform them of the new contact details and ensure the offer are issued to the new lawyers. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid escalating fees and complications. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The find a solicitor tool will assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your home move in Rumney
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rumney with the intention of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Rumney can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers. Some Rumney leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved. The majority of landlords or Management Companies in Rumney charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rumney. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Rumney - Examples of Queries before Purchasing
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This information is helpful as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details What is the service charge and ground rent on the apartment?