My partner and I are hoping to purchase a home in St James and are in fact using a St James conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our St James conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred St James lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My uncle passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in St James. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to UBS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you intend to refinance then UBS will insist on your using a conveyancer on the UBS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your UBS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the UBS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I just acquired a flat at auction in St James. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?
Having for in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you must instruct a conveyancing lawyer as a matter of priority as you are faced with a tight a drop dead date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will have a corresponding legal set of papers. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold property the auction pack should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
The mortgage over my property is with TSB for my property in St James. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform TSB?
TSB must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of TSB’s mortgage conditions. It may be that TSB will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact TSB directly. You need not do this via a TSB conveyancing panel lawyer.
It is unclear whether my lender requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my St James bank branch on various occasions and was informed it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My St James conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they would not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Your conveyancing practitioner has to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I purchased a renovated Georgian house in St James. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Barclays . I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St James and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. St James is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in St James are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St James you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St James may determine 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.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for my conveyancing in St James. I've land on a site which appears to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all the legals done via web that would be preferable. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?