It is is a decade since I bought my house in Bishop Auckland. Conveyancing lawyers have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find my title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your lender or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Bishop Auckland involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Bishop Auckland. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Soon after, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Santander. Is it usual for Santander to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Bishop Auckland is approved on their conveyancing panel? Santander have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Santander to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Santander conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Our offer on a house in Bishop Auckland has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have selected a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Bishop Auckland. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Lloyds?
It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Bishop Auckland conveyancing search costs, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your property lawyer is on the Lloyds approved list. Regarding the next stages this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market many purchasers will apply for a home loan with Lloyds and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Bishop Auckland.
Will our solicitor be raising questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Bishop Auckland.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Bishop Auckland. Plenty of people will buy a house in Bishop Auckland, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a various searches that may be carried out by the buyer or by their lawyers which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Bishop Auckland. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual inquiry of the seller to discover if the property has ever been flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not disclosed by the seller, then a buyer could commence a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading answer. The purchaser’s solicitors will also conduct an enviro report. This will disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be conducted.
How does conveyancing in Bishop Auckland differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Bishop Auckland approach us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is built. This is because house builders in Bishop Auckland typically buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Bishop Auckland or who has acted in the same development.
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Bishop Auckland. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Bishop Auckland who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Bishop Auckland conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I bought a 2 bed flat in Bishop Auckland, conveyancing formalities finalised 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? Comparable properties in Bishop Auckland with an extended lease are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2080
With just 55 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.