We are purchasing a purpose built apartment in Heacham with a mortgage from Clydesdale.We use our Heacham conveyancing lawyer but Clydesdale informed us he's not on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Clydesdale panel lawyer or retain our high street solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Clydesdale use our lawyer?

Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors will be on the Clydesdale solicitor panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Clydesdale

How does conveyancing in Heacham differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Heacham contact us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is constructed. This is because developers in Heacham usually buy the real estate, 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 Heacham or who has acted in the same development.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Heacham I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Heacham in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

I own a leasehold house in Heacham. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Heacham who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Heacham conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Heacham - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

It would be wise to discover as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily matters like the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants what they think of their management. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending that money. The majority of Heacham leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced by the management company. If you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this liability, normally in instalments throughout the year. This could vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a large sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. This question is helpful as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if services remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have all the details

My 20yr old son is just in the process of moving home, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. One the offer was accepted on house we rang the building society to progress the mortgage application. We were shocked to hear that banks do not accept all lawyer, they must be on their panel, is this correct?

Lenders tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Heacham lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.