I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (seven years built) in St Neots. 95% of the appartments have already been disposed of. Do I need carry out the conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in St Neots?
You would be opening yourself up to an unnecessary risk in not carrying out St Neots conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying without a mortgage there is no legal necessity to have them, but we would absolutely advise in no uncertain terms that you have them. If time pressures and driving down costs are primary concerns you should consider with your solicitor about the options such as lack of search insurance available to you
My apartment in St Neots is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does the lawyer need to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.
We expect to receive a AIP from Co-operative this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Co-operative recommend any St Neots solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint St Neots solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Co-operative through the process.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a St Neots conveyancing practitioner on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
My offer on a detached house in St Neots has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have offered on a flat, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in St Neots. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Co-operative going?
It is usual to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, St Neots conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Co-operative approved list. As to the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market many buyers would apply for a home loan with Co-operative and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their property lawyer to press on with searches.
Have purchased a a detached house in St Neots , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to deal with the formalities evidencing the transfer to my name? My St Neots conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to check the registration formalities are dealt with.
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in St Neots registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary according to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any third parties. Currently approximately 80% of submission are completed within two weeks but some can be subject to longer delays. Historically registration occurs after the buyer has moved in to the premises so 'speed' is not typically primary concern yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor must speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in St Neots prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor advised that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in St Neots. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in St Neots to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Why do St Neots conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
When acquiring a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control