I require conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (five years old) in Wem. The vast majority the appartments are already occupied. Do I need carry out the neighbourhood searches as part of conveyancing in Wem?
Where you are obtaining a mortgage, your bank will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Wem conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor, will ’encourage’, perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should have the searches done, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you choose to instruct your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to swap to another solicitor for your conveyancing in Wem.
We previously instructed conveyancers locally in Wem on the Nationwide solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional fee for handling the Nationwide mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Nationwide?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Nationwide but by your Wem solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Nationwide panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
My wife and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Santander as we want to conduct a loft conversion to our home in Wem. Do we need to choose a local Wem solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Santander don't usually require firms on 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 Santander panel.
Having read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Wem solicitor - who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Wem surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
How does conveyancing in Wem differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Wem contact us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because new home sellers in Wem typically acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Wem or who has acted in the same development.
How does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business offices in Wem and how can you help?
The 1954 Act provides security of tenure to business tenants, giving them the legal entitlement to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease comes to an end. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Wem is one of our numerous locations in which our lawyers have offices
My step-father has recommend that I use his conveyancers in Wem. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the best way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have experience in using the conveyancer you're are thinking of instructing.
A conveyancing company handled my conveyancing in Wem half a dozen years past having stored my registration certificates but has now closed – What can I do to get hold of them?
Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Wem are archived digitally at Land Registry. If you need to show ownership or are selling or refinancing your lawyer should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.