Me and my brother have a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Formby. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Yorkshire Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Formby and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
I am buying my first flat in Formby with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this extras as it could affect my loan with the bank. 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 I need to be wary that third parties that I am dealing with are suggesting an internet conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Formby conveyancing company?
As with lots of service providers, often suggestions from relatives can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are numerous parties with a keen interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders might all recommend lawyers to use. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You have the right to select your own lawyer. You need to be aware that many mortgage providers operate an approved list of solicitors you have to use for the lender aspect of your house move.
Am I better off to go with a Formby conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am buying? An old friend can perform the legal work but his firm is located 200kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street Formby conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and in the main were happy that must surpass using an unknown Formby conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Formby based.
Are all Formby law firms on every bank conveyancing panel?
The Lexsure search tool on this page may be of use or you can drop into your local bank branch in Formby. Chances are that they will be in a position to suggest some approved conveyancing solicitors in Formby