The Southfields conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Southfields have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a firm on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel and my previous Southfields lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What should be my next steps?
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. 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 Coventry BS 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 solicitors should be in a position to help.
My friend suggested that if I am buying in Southfields I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Southfields conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Southfields around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Southfields Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Southfields Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Southfields.
I have a semi-detached Victorian property in Southfields. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Southfields and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I am purchasing my first flat in Southfields with a loan from Clydesdale. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about the deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with Clydesdale. 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.
How difficult is it to switch solicitor as I have to find a firm on the Coventry Building Society conveyancing panel. I was using a local conveyancing solicitor in Southfields five minutes from me but she is not accepted by Coventry Building Society
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Southfields on the Coventry Building Society panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we list do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are registered with the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Southfields. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this site, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Southfields.
Should I cancel the direct debit for my mortgage with Santander as soon as a completion date for my home sale in Southfields has been set?
You are best advised to keep meeting any mortgage sums to Santander until the mortgage is repaid on completion as part of your Southfields conveyancing.