We were just about to sign contracts for a leasehold flat in Haverhill. We encountered a snag. Our mortgage offer with Lloyds TSB Bank runs out on 17/11/2025 but the vendors are insisting on a completion date of 19/11/2025. Can one prolong the loan offer?
The person best placed to deal with your concern is your lawyer who is in a position to assess whether they corresponding with the mortgage broker, seller’s solicitors, property agents or conceivably all three given the circumstances your conveyancing to date.
Should my lawyer be making enquiries about flooding during the conveyancing in Haverhill.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Haverhill. Plenty of people will acquire a house in Haverhill, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Haverhill. The conventional set of information supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a standard question of the vendor to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the owner, then a buyer could commence a legal claim for losses as a result of such an misleading reply. The buyer’s solicitors will also carry out an enviro search. This should higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be conducted.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Haverhill?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Haverhill. 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…’
How does conveyancing in Haverhill differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Haverhill approach us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because new home sellers in Haverhill tend to acquire 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Haverhill or who has acted in the same development.
Much to my surprise my lawyer in Haverhill is asking me for ID documents saying that this forms part of his legal duty as a conveyancer on the lender Conveyancing panel. Is this right?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not specific to conveyancing in Haverhill