Are the Sandgate conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the HSBC conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by HSBC?
Sandgate conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from HSBC directly.
is it true that all Sandgate conveyancing solicitors on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Many banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be overseen by the CLC.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Sandgate building society branch on numerous occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Sandgate conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they would not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Provided that the lawyer is on the lender approved list, she or he must adhere to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Sandgate. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.
I have been told that property searches are the number one cause of hinderance in Sandgate house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Sandgate.
Hoping to buy a property located in Sandgate and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Sandgate. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Sandgate area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Sandgate. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
Last September I purchased a leasehold flat in Sandgate. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).
Leasehold Conveyancing in Sandgate - Examples of Queries before buying
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How much is the ground rent and service charge? Is the freehold owned jointly by the tenants?
I am soon to exchange buying a house in Sandgate but as a consequence of damage from the recent storms I have negotiated reparation from the vendor of £2k by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my bank will not agree to this. Should they have been approached?
Your conveyancer being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel is duty bound to disclose to the lender of any variations to the sale figure. If you did not allow your property lawyer to disclose the reduction to your bank then they would need to refrain from acting for you and the mortgage company.