My husband and I are acquiring a newly built flat in West Ham and my lawyer is telling me that she has to the lender to disclose incentives from the seller. I am on a tight deadline to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in West Ham. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers procuring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in West Ham relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
We're in West Ham, First time buyers buying with a mortgage (lender is Co-operative , and our solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
What will a local search inform me about the property we're purchasing in West Ham?
West Ham conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search plays an important role in many a West Ham conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search will provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject areas.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in West Ham in advance of appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some lenders will not grant a mortgage on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. If you call us we can look into this further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in West Ham. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing lawyer in West Ham for my house move. Is there any facility to check a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?
One can find presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes monitor telephone calls for training purposes.