My husband and I are looking to buy a house in Stevenage and are in fact using a Stevenage conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Stevenage conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers 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 solicitor 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Stevenage solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
About to purchase a new build flat in Stevenage. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Stevenage
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Please supply a car parking plan. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Stevenage I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Stevenage for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
How straightforward is it to use the search tool to find a conveyancing solicitor in Stevenage on the approved list for my bank?
1st select a bank such as Santander, Coventry Building Society or Barclays Direct then specify your preferred area for instance Stevenage. Conveyancing practices in Stevenage and further afield should be listed.
We expect to complete our sale of a £325,000 apartment in Stevenage in 5 days. The managing agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Stevenage?
For most leasehold sales in Stevenage conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Completing pre-exchange questions
Where consent is required before sale in Stevenage
Supplying insurance information
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Leasehold Conveyancing in Stevenage - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing
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Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? What restrictions exist in the Stevenage Lease? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?
We had our mortgage agreed in principle on Monday with our bank. We have retained a high street conveyancer in Stevenage yesterday. Today, our mortgage adviser contacted us saying that the bank said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their panel. As FTB's, we had no idea that the bank had some control over our choice Is this allowed?
You are at liberty to instruct any property lawyer you wish to select including the said conveyancer in Stevenage however if they are not on the your lender's panel you will have to incur an extra fee so the bank can appoint their own lawyers. It may be possible your solicitor may apply to get included on to the lender panel. You can use online search facilities including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in Stevenage on the mortgage company panel. You can go into your high street bank branch in Stevenage. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in Stevenage on the approved list.