My partner and I are planning to acquire a house in Sleaford and have instructed a Sleaford conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Skipton Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Sleaford conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 property lawyer should contact your bank 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Sleaford lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
How up to date is your search tool for Sleaford conveyancing solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel? Do Nationwide send you an updated list?
Sleaford conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Nationwide directly.
My wife and I are purchasing a house in Sleaford. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we have to put money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
A friend informed me that in buying a property in Sleaford there could be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Sleaford which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Sleaford should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I'm in the throws of looking at flats in Sleaford and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a property lawyer appointed at this point? I intend to finance via a mortgage with RBS.
It would be prudent to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with RBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the RBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Sleaford I like with amenity areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Sleaford for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
What does commercial conveyancing in Sleaford cover?
Commercial conveyancing in Sleaford incorporates a broad range of guidance, given by qualified solicitors, relating to business premises. By way of example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the assignment of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of leases.