I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Wokingham for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our bank Chelsea Building Society won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
A bank may require an approved conveyancer act for it. You would be expected to bear the cost of this. Do use our directory service to select a solicitor to carry conveyancing in Wokingham on the Chelsea Building Society member panel.
A colleague advised me that in buying a property in Wokingham there could be various restrictions preventing external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Wokingham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Wokingham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Wokingham solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS 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 Wokingham 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.
Principality have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a apartment in Wokingham has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your estate agent will want to be informed of your lawyer's details (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Principality or your broker and finalise any outstanding paperwork. Principality will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to book an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Principality will issue the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Wokingham.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Wokingham?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Wokingham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Should I go with a Wokingham conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the conveyancing but they are based approximately 350miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Wokingham conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Wokingham know how is a benefit. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and they were content that should trump using an unfamiliar Wokingham conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Wokingham based.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Wokingham both have about fifty years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field.
I inherited a 1st floor flat in Wokingham, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Wokingham with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2097
With 74 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
My son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the seller agreed the offer on the house we rang the mortgage company to go forward with his. We were disappointed to hear that banks do not accept all conveyancing practitioner, they have to be on a list, is this legal?
Mortgage Companies ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Wokingham lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.