The Woodley conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Woodley have without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my previous Woodley lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to assist.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her flat in Woodley. Will the conveyancing solicitor order an energy assessment or do I organise this?
Following the demise of Home Information Packs, energy assessments was maintained a required part of moving house. An EPC needs to be commissioned in advance of the property being marketed. This is not something that lawyers normally arrange. If you are instructing a Woodley conveyancing practitioner they may be willing to arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
I am being told by my conveyancer that restrictive coveneant insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Woodley?
The right level of restrictive coveneant indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between National Westminster Bank and Coventry Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
My husband and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Clydesdale as we want to conduct improvements to our home in Woodley. Do we need to choose a local Woodley solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Clydesdale would not normally instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to cover chancel repairs when buying a house in Woodley?
Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you may assume that conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Woodley to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
I am purchasing my first flat in Woodley benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it may impact my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Woodley with the aim of saving time on the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodley can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ representatives. If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Woodley conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later. Some Woodley leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.
I purchased a ground floor flat in Woodley, conveyancing having been completed in 2006. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Woodley with a long lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2095
With just 69 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
Why do I have to provide my conveyancer with various items of ID before I can proceed with my conveyancing in Woodley?
Woodley lawyers are obliged by the Law Society, SRA, HMLR and current AML Regulations to record that the have verified the identity of their clients. It will also be a requirement of your mortgage offer. In addition they have to complete various forms, particularly those relating to SDLT and need to have details such as your full names, NI number and date of birth.