My partner and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Washwood Heath and are in fact using a Washwood Heath conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Birmingham Midshires have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Washwood Heath solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Washwood Heath solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Do the conveyancing lawyers via your comparison service perform conveyancing in Washwood Heath by way of an attended exchange?
There are a few conveyancing specialists carrying out 24hr exchanges. Please call us to secure a costs illustration and details as to dates.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Washwood Heath what would it be?
It would be unwise to be seduced by the cheapest Washwood Heath conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Bank of Ireland as we intend to carry out a loft conversion to our property in Washwood Heath. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar Washwood Heath solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Bank of Ireland don't usually require a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bank of Ireland list.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Washwood Heath solicitor - who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Aldermore will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Aldermore 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. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Washwood Heath postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Aldermore, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Washwood Heath.
A relative recommended that where I am buying in Washwood Heath I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Washwood Heath conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Washwood Heath around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Washwood Heath Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Washwood Heath Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Washwood Heath.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Washwood Heath is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Washwood Heath are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Washwood Heath you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Washwood Heath 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.
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Washwood Heath - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I purchased a basement flat in Washwood Heath, conveyancing formalities finalised June 1998. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Washwood Heath with a long lease are worth £265,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2102
With 76 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.