Can you help? My South Kensington conveyancer is informing me me that he has toorder South Kensington conveyancing searches resulting from the fact thatthe firm are on the Virgin Moneyapproved lawyer panel. These South Kensington checks cost a lot of money can this be avoided?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your solicitor has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out South Kensington conveyancing searches.
The South Kensington conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in South Kensington have without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my preferred South Kensington lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors 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 will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays 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 lawyers may be able to assist.
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a garden flat in South Kensington. Do I collect the keys to the premises on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in South Kensington. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a South Kensington solicitor on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham 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 Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, 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 Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
At last I have had an offer on a maisonette in South Kensington accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Principality?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx £1k, then valuation, South Kensington conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your property lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Concerning the next stages this very much depends on the specifics of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market many home buyers will apply for a home loan with Principality and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their lawyer to proceed with searches.
I require fast conveyancing in South Kensington as I have an ultimatum to complete in less than 2 weeks. A home loan is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are are a cash purchaser you are at liberty not to do searches although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in South Kensington the following are instances of issues that can show up and therefore impact future saleability: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Overdue Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in South Kensington. Now, I need my files but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in South Kensington of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in South Kensington. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington
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Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared.
