My wife and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Kidbrooke and are in fact using a Kidbrooke conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Kidbrooke conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kidbrooke solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Do I need to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a residence in Kidbrooke?
Unless a previous purchase of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you can expect solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Kidbrooke to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Kidbrooke?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Kidbrooke. 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…’
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Kidbrooke is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Kidbrooke are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Kidbrooke you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Kidbrooke may determine 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.
Am I right to be wary by 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a national conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Kidbrooke conveyancing company?
As with many professional services, often referrals from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. Yet there are lots of people with a vested interest in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks may recommend conveyancers to appoint. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there may be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to select your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that the majority of mortgage providers operate an approved list of solicitors you have to use for the lender aspect of your transaction.