My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in Whalley Range and have instructed a Whalley Range conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Whalley Range solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Whalley Range solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My grandmother passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Whalley Range. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Aldermore, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you intend to refinance then Aldermore will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Aldermore mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
When it comes to lenders such as Clydesdale, do Whalley Range property lawyers have to pay an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
My wife and I have arranged the release of further funds on our home loan from Leeds Building Society as we wish to carry out improvements to our property in Whalley Range. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Whalley Range solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Leeds Building Society don't usually require a member of their conveyancing panel 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 Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.
I can not fathom if my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Whalley Range bank branch on numerous occasions and was told it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Whalley Range conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they will not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Your lawyer must follow the CML Handbook Part 2 provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I have a renovated Edwardian house in Whalley Range. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second 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 as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Whalley Range and other areas of 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 buyers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Whalley Range I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Whalley Range suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
When it comes to my conveyancing in Whalley Range should I be paying VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee
(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Whalley Range conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the lawyer's time in submitting the funds this way.