My wife and I are nearing an exchange on a house in Edgbaston and my mum and dad have transferred the exchange deposit to my conveyancer. I am now informed that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancing practitioner needs to disclose this to my mortgage company. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the bank about my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to delay the deal?
Your property lawyer is duty bound to clarify with lender to ensure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only reveal this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I am selling my home in Edgbaston. Will my conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.
My relative recommended that if I am buying in Edgbaston I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Edgbaston conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Edgbaston around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Edgbaston Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Edgbaston.
I have recentlydiscovered that Wolstenholmes have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Edgbaston for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest way to check if the property is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Edgbaston conveyancing specialists.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Edgbaston is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Edgbaston are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Edgbaston you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Edgbaston may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.