My wife and I are planning to buy a property in Shoreham By Sea and have instructed a Shoreham By Sea conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Shoreham By Sea lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Shoreham By Sea lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Shoreham By Sea?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Shoreham By Sea your lawyer will request that you put them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Generally this is requested to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any deposit is payable against the purchase price then this will be asked for shortly before contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer a few days prior to the completion date.
It is not clear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Shoreham By Sea building society branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Shoreham By Sea conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their published requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Provided that the lawyer is on the bank approved list, they must adhere to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Shoreham By Sea. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Not long after, the lawyer called me to say that they were not on the RBS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the RBS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, HSBC are being difficult. The Shoreham By Sea solicitor who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but HSBC are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do HSBC have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that HSBC have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why HSBC may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Shoreham By Sea. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have recently had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would as all ground rent and maintenance charges should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I am the registered owner of a studio flat in Shoreham By Sea, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Shoreham By Sea with a long lease are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2079
You have 54 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
Why is it not possible to complete my conveyancing in Shoreham By Sea on Easter Monday?
This is due to the fact that on completion the money needs to be transferred electronically between the banks of the buyer and owner’s property lawyer and currently this can only happen on a business day. So you can't complete on a weekend either.