I am getting a mortgage offer from Halifax. I would like to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer in Sherston. Does the Halifax Conveyancing panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Halifax conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
There are a variety of conveyancing solicitors in Sherston but how do I know who's good?
It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Sherston conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.
I have paid off my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Sherston lawyer on the Barclays panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Barclays 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 Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, 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 Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Sherston solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Sherston surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
4 months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Sherston completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am purchasing a new build house in Sherston benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would impact my mortgage with Skipton Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
As co-executor for the estate of my father I am selling a property in Neath but I am based in Sherston. My conveyancer (based 200 miles awayhas requested that I execute a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Sherston who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in Sherston
Why do Sherston conveyancing costs are higher for leasehold and freehold properties?
Leasehold conveyancing in Sherston will often involve additional due diligence for instance fully examining the lease, communicating with the landlord, obtaining up to date rent receipts, landlord’s consents, management company’s accounts etc.