Our conveyancer has discovered a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Summertown and Botley. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must check that the lender is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
A relative suggested that if I am buying in Summertown and Botley I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Summertown and Botley conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Summertown and Botley around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Summertown and Botley.
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Summertown and Botley. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Summertown and Botley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Summertown and Botley I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Summertown and Botley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Is it best to instruct a Summertown and Botley conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am buying? An old friend can carry out the conveyancing however her office is 400kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street Summertown and Botley conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign documents, deliver your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local Summertown and Botley know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and in the main were impressed that must trump using an unknown Summertown and Botley conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.