I was informed yesterday by my IFA that my Watchet lawyer is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. What can I do to be sure that this is correct?
The best course of action for you to take is to call your Watchet lawyer directly. You lawyer should inform you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a Watchet conveyancing practice that is on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.
My fiance and I intend to purchase a purpose built flat in Watchet with a mortgage from Alliance & Leicester .We like our Watchet conveyancing solicitor but Alliance & Leicester says he's not listed on their "panel". We have to appoint a Alliance & Leicester panel solicitor or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Alliance & Leicester use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors needs to be on the Alliance & Leicester solicitor panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Alliance & Leicester
A colleague suggested that where I am purchasing in Watchet I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Watchet conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Watchet around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Watchet Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Watchet Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Watchet.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Watchet?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Watchet. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the property agent has warned us that the vendor will only issue a contract if we instruct the agent's recommended conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a family conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Watchet
It is highly unlikely the vendors are driving this. Should the vendor desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Speak to the vendors direct and explain that (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to use your own,trusted Watchet conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthe ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing targets set by head office.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Watchet from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Watchet can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Watchet state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Watchet conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity. A minority of Watchet leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
Watchet Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future to be shared between the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the service costs or necessitate a specific invoice. What prohibitions are contained in the Watchet Lease? Who manages the block?