I am in the process of mortgaging my flat in St Anns, does my lawyer have to be on the Santander Solicitor panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Santander will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
My partner and I are downsizing from our house in St Anns and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used an online conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in St Anns. We have lived in St Anns for six years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I am buying my first flat in St Anns with a mortgage from TSB. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would put at risk my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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 will of my uncle I am disposing of a house in Swansea but reside in St Anns. My conveyancer (who is 200 miles awayrequires that I execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in St Anns who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are St Anns based
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in St Anns. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?
Most houses in St Anns are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in St Anns so you should seriously consider shopping around for a St Anns conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.
I purchased a split level flat in St Anns, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in St Anns with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2089
You have 63 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £16,200 and £18,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
Do online conveyancing companies do everything a local St Anns solicitor does or do I still need to retain a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in St Anns?
Where you choose an online conveyancer they should undertake all the things your St Anns solicitor would cover.