I can't travel far from Potton. Is there a reason why all Potton conveyancing practitioners aren't automatically on all bank panels?
Lenders ordinarily restrict either the nature or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such criteria being that a practice needs to have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the nature of firm, some building societies decided to restrict the size of their panel they use to act for them. You should note that lenders have no accountability for the accuracy of conveyancing provided by any Potton conveyancer on their panel. Property fraud was the main trigger for the reduction of solicitor panels in the last decade even though there are contrary views concerning whether solicitors sat at the center of that fraud. Data via the Land Registry indicates that thousands of law organisations only transact a couple of conveyances a year. Those advocating conveyancing panel consolidation ask why conveyancing firms should have claim to be on a lender panel when clearly conveyancing is not their primary expertise?
My husband and I are refinancing our maisonette in Potton with Santander. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Santander had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
We are buying a terrace house in Potton. The intention is to convert the garage to a playroom at the property.Will legal due diligence on the property involve checks to determine if these alterations are permitted?
Your conveyancer should review the registered title as conveyancing in Potton will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title documents which prevent certain works or require the permission of another owner. Some works require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Yorkshire BS. Potton conveyancing solicitors have been appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Yorkshire BS?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Yorkshire BS done the valuation? Have you advised Yorkshire BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
Nationwide have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Potton has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will wish to be informed of your solicitor's details (make sure the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Contact Nationwide or your broker and finish off any appropriate forms. Nationwide will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Nationwide will send the offer to you and your solicitors. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Potton.
I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of obstruction in Potton conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Potton.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my property are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Potton 10 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?
These day there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should know precisely where to locate all the relevant documentation so you can purchase or sell your house without a hitch. Where copies can’t be found, your conveyancer may be able to arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on your property.