My financial adviser requires my Westminster lawyer’ panel member for the Santander conveyancing panel. How do I find this out. I have tried my local Westminster branch but they have not responded to me.
The sensible thing to do is ask for this information from your Westminster property lawyer . They should have a central record lender panel numbers.
A relative recommended that where I am buying in Westminster 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 occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Westminster conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Westminster around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Westminster Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Westminster.
My wife and I own a semi-detached Edwardian property in Westminster. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Leeds Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Westminster and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.
I am buying a new build house in Westminster with a mortgage from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my lawyer about the extras as it may put at risk my loan with Platform Home Loans Ltd. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Westminster in advance of appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some lenders will not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Westminster. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Westminster to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing lawyer in Westminster for my home move. Is it possible to review a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
Anyone may review documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find details Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor call for training reasons.