My wife and I are hoping to purchase a home in Ventnor and have appointed a Ventnor conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Lloyds TSB Bank have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Ventnor lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Ventnor lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the TSB Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Ventnor?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
A friend recommended that if I am purchasing in Ventnor I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Ventnor conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Ventnor 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 type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Ventnor.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Ventnor. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Ventnor
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If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for freehold conveyancing in Ventnor. I happened to discover a web site which seems to have the ideal answer If there is a chance to get all formalities completed via phone that would be preferable. Do I need to be concerned? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Ventnor. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you discharge the service charge as usual given that all ground rent and maintenance invoices will be allotted 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I own a ground floor flat in Ventnor, conveyancing having been completed October 2002. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Ventnor with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2087
With only 66 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.