My wife and I are looking to purchase a home in Trowbridge and have appointed a Trowbridge conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Trowbridge solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard 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 solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Trowbridge solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My uncle passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Trowbridge. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Santander, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you plan to re-mortgage then Santander will require that you use a conveyancer on the Santander conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Santander conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Santander mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Trowbridge?
Two types of professional can perform conveyancing in Trowbridge namely CLC regulated conveyancers or solicitors. The two can provide conveyancing services that required to complete the sale or acquisition of property. They are both obliged to carry out Trowbridge conveyancing on similar standards and guidelines so you may be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be professionally conducted and that the requirements and steps should be appropriately taken.
I am purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Trowbridge. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will the conveyancing process involve checks to ascertain if these works were previously refused?
Your conveyancer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Trowbridge will occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which prohibit certain alterations or necessitated the permission of another owner. Many works need local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
Planning on purchasing a flat in Trowbridge. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Trowbridge lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
My wife and I are downsizing from our property in Trowbridge and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a factory type conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Trowbridge. We have lived in Trowbridge for three years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of 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 health insurance to cover that same sickness)
My wife and I own a renovated Edwardian house in Trowbridge. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Nationwide Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Nationwide Building Society to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Trowbridge and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Trowbridge. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?
It best that you pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would as all rents and service payments will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment 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.
I bought a 1st floor flat in Trowbridge, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2008. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Trowbridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2103
With 78 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £7,600 and £8,800 as well as professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.