I am progressing with the sale of my flat in St Mary Cray and the estate agent has just text me to advise that the purchasers are swapping law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in St Mary Cray ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
I have given 2 months notice to my existing landlord and have to vacate my rented apartment in St Mary Cray by 29/5/2020. Conveyancing for my house purchase is progressing. Is it possible to complete in a couple of weeks as I wish to avoid having to move into temporary accommodation?
The normal practice is not to provide notice for your lease unless exchange of contracts has taken place. If you have not already done so, speak to your lawyer and ask them to they chase the sellers solicitors, try to an acceptable time-line that everyone will work towards
About to place an offer on a leasehold property in St Mary Cray. The property agents say that it is the norm for flats in St Mary Cray to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am getting a loan with Bank of Ireland. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 70 years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 2/4/2020 the requirements read as follows :
A relative recommended that where I am buying in St Mary Cray I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard St Mary Cray conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about St Mary Cray around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about St Mary Cray.
It has been 4 months following my purchase conveyancing in St Mary Cray completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
My uncle has urged me to appoint his conveyancing solicitors in St Mary Cray. Should I use them?
No doubt it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to seek guidance from friends or family who have actually experience in using the firm that you are contemplating using.