My husband and I are looking to buy a home in Wrington and are in fact using a Wrington conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Wrington lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Wrington solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Will lawyers ask for money up-front for my conveyancing in Wrington?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Wrington your solicitor will ask you place them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the total price then this should be asked for immediately prior to contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days prior to the day of completion.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is removed from the Co-operative Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Wrington?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Wrington?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Wrington. 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…’
What does commercial conveyancing in Wrington cover?
Commercial conveyancing in Wrington covers a broad array of services, supplied by regulated solicitors, relating to business premises. For example, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the transfer of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of tenancies.
Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Wrington. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Wrington who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Wrington conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I bought a garden flat in Wrington, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Wrington with over 90 years remaining are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2081
With 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £28,500 and £33,000 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.