I plan on acquiring a flat in Welwyn Garden City. My property lawyer has never been on on the lender conveyancing panel. Is it possible for me to appoint my Welwyn Garden City conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
You have a number of choices open to you here
- Carry on with your existing Welwyn Garden City lawyer but your bank will no doubt use a solicitor on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional charges together with probable frustration.
- Get a new solicitor to act in the purchase, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancer to do everything within their powers to get accepted on the lender’s panel of solicitors
My wife and I are about to exchange buying a house in Welwyn Garden City but as a result of damage from some water damage at the property I have managed to agree reparation from the vendor in the sum of three thousand pounds by way of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but Nottingham are not allowing this. Should they have been informed?
Your solicitor being on the Nottingham approved list is duty bound to advise Nottingham of any amendments to the sale price. If you prohibit your property lawyer to notify the reduction to Nottingham then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Nottingham and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Welwyn Garden City.
It is is a decade since I acquired my house in Welwyn Garden City. Conveyancing lawyers have now been retained on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be kept by your lender or they may still be with the conveyancers who handled your purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Welwyn Garden City relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
I just bought a property at auction in Welwyn Garden City. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?
Now that you are exchanged you now have to find a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are facing a tight a drop dead date to complete the deal. All auction property will ordinarily have an associated auction set of papers. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold property the auction papers should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to leasehold premises. You must give this to the conveyancer working for you as soon as possible. Do make sure that your finances are in place to complete on the on the contractual date .
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Welwyn Garden City. I have a mortgage agreed with Clydesdale. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Clydesdale, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
Intending to buy a apartment in Welwyn Garden City. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Barclays 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 Welwyn Garden City property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Welwyn Garden City I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Welwyn Garden City for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage that many years will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
Our solicitor in Welwyn Garden City has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are buying in Welwyn Garden City. The other side have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that as he is on the bank conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the bank approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.