My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in St Margarets and are in fact using a St Margarets conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our St Margarets solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own St Margarets solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am the registered owner of a freehold property in St Margarets but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in St Margarets and has limited impact for conveyancing in St Margarets but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of new rentcharges post 1977.
Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.
Having spent time reviewing moneysavingexpert.com for a high-quality solicitor in St Margarets, most comment that I should instruct a CQS kitemarked lawyer. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised quality mark for legal experts in the legal transfer of properties, trusted by some of the UK's biggest mortgage companies. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Legal Ombudsman. CQS is not a scheme offered by the Council of Licensed Conveyancing. St Margarets is one of the many areas in England and Wales where there are Accredited solicitors.
We are selling our house in St Margarets and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street St Margarets conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used an internet conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in St Margarets. Having lived in St Margarets for six years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You must 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 life insurance to cover that same sickness)
My husband and I are 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been directed to solicitors by the high street agent to do our conveyancing in St Margarets. We are not happy. Could you help me find new solicitors?
A conveyancer would have to be really poor to suggest replacing them. Has your mortgage offer been generated? In the event that it has you must inform them of the new solicitor and get the offer are re-sent. Your solicitor ideally should be on the banks approved list to avoid added charges and frustration. That should be your starting point. Our search tool should help you find a bank approved solicitor for your conveyancing in St Margarets
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in St Margarets. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in St Margarets - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a St Margarets conveyancing firm to represent me?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a St Margarets conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Margarets residence is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.45 years.