My wife and I are acquiring a newly constructed apartment in Sidcup and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I don't want to delay the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
When can the exchange of contracts occur in sale conveyancing in Sidcup and do I need to attend the lawyers branch?
If you are near to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Sidcup you are welcome to attend to sign contracts. However, the firms we work with offer a national conveyancing service and provide just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The executing of the purchase agreement is not the critical part. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to exchange contracts at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Sidcup)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
A relative suggested that where I am purchasing in Sidcup I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Sidcup conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Sidcup around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Sidcup.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Sidcup I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Sidcup in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
I need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner in Sidcup for my house move. Can I review a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?
One can see published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from investigations commenced on or after Jan 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For details about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the lender approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the mortgage company conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the bank solicitor panel.