My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in Swinton and have instructed a Swinton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Alliance & Leicester have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Swinton conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Swinton lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (6 years old) in Swinton. Almost all the appartments are already disposed of. Do I need carry out the conveyancing searches as part of conveyancing in Swinton?
Conveyancing Searches are a central link in the Swinton conveyancing process. There are hundreds search providers who offer Swinton conveyancing searches, as well direct from the local authority. These are generally termed personal search organisation and they produce, not surprisingly, personal searches. Nevertheless, all Local Authority Search conveyancing products have one thing in common - they must secure their data from the local authoritative source.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Clydesdale. Swinton conveyancing lawyers are instructed. How long does it take for Clydesdale to send the offer to the solicitor?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Clydesdale done the survey? Have you advised Clydesdale as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I am purchasing a property in Swinton. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender HSBC be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with HSBC your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions set out in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for HSBC. The CML Handbook sets out minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to HSBC where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Swinton.
Having read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Swinton solicitor - who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Leeds Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Leeds Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Swinton surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
How does conveyancing in Swinton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Swinton approach us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because developers in Swinton usually acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Swinton or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Swinton is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Swinton are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Swinton you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Swinton may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Swinton.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?
The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as usual because all rents and maintenance charges should be allottedon completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process