After reviewing moneysavingexpert.com for a cheap solicitor in St Luke's, most advise that I should instruct a CQS assured lawyer. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * compliance with prudent and efficient conveyancing processes via the scheme protocol the standard includes many companies who perform conveyancing in St Luke's.
We are purchasing a house in St Luke's. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to put our life savings into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in St Luke's on the TSB solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further charge for handling the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by TSB?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer can levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by TSB but by your St Luke's conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the TSB panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
We have agreed to purchase a house in St Luke's. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Yorkshire BS be concerned?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Yorkshire BS your lawyer must follow the conveyancing requirements contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Yorkshire BS. The CML Handbook includes minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Yorkshire BS where a lease does not meet these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to St Luke's.
Will our conveyancer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in St Luke's.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in St Luke's. There are those who purchase a property in St Luke's, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will figure out the risks in St Luke's. The standard information sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard question of the vendor to determine whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the premises has been flooded in past and is not notified by the vendor, then a purchaser could commence a compensation claim stemming from an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s conveyancers may also conduct an environmental report. This should higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be initiated.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in St Luke's prior to retaining solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor has said that some banks will refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in St Luke's. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in St Luke's to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
My father-in-law has suggested that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in St Luke's. Should I use them?
No doubt the ideal way to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek referrals from friends or family who have actually experience in using the solicitor that you are contemplating using.
I own a leasehold flat in St Luke's. Conveyancing was completed in 2011. I have been told that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to fall too low. Is this correct?
St Luke's leasehold properties are for a fixed term - normally just under one hundred years when they started. However a significant appartments in St Luke's were built or converted in the 60’s and so such leases now have fewer than 80 years remaining. This may sound like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders generally require leases to have at least seventy five years left to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are nearing eighty years. To increase your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also advantages to taking action before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.
