Our conveyancer has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in South Woodford. The other side have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor has advised that he must check that the bank is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
The South Woodford conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in South Woodford have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my previous South Woodford lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide 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.
How can we tell if a South Woodford conveyancing solicitor on the Leeds Building Society panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in South Woodford obtaining recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor conducting your conveyancing.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in South Woodford. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Soon after, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality 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 Principality 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.
About to purchase flat in South Woodford. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the South Woodford conveyancing practitioner is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
How does conveyancing in South Woodford differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in South Woodford come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in South Woodford tend to purchase the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in South Woodford or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. South Woodford is the location of the property. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in South Woodford are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside South Woodford you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in South Woodford may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
My folks are unable to locate their South Woodford property on the HM Land Registry website. They recall that back in the 60’s when they purchased the house there were complications regarding the address not being identified on some systems.
The vast majority of properties in South Woodford should be revealed. Have you endevoured to search to simply the postcode. Ordinarily it will reveal all the houses and flats within the postcode. Where recorded it will be there with a title number. If they bought back in the 60’s it's conceivable it may be unregistered. The address could still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to find the original title deeds which may be with your parent’s lender.