We are buying a purpose built apartment in Woking with a residential mortgage from .We like our Woking conveyancing practitioner but advised that his firm is not listed on their "panel". We have to appoint a panel lawyer or keep our local solicitor and pay for a panel lawyer to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that solicitors needs to be on the approved list. in the past, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for
Should our lawyer be raising questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Woking.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Woking. There are those who purchase a property in Woking, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that may be undertaken by the buyer or by their solicitors which will give them a better understanding of the risks in Woking. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual question of the vendor to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past which is not disclosed by the seller, then a purchaser may commence a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate answer. The buyer’s solicitors may also commission an environmental report. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be made.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property can not be found. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Woking 5 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?
Nowadays there are copies made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will be aware exactly where to look for all the relevant documentation so you can purchase or dispose of your house without any difficulty. If copies are not available, your lawyer can put in place insurance or indemnities against possible claims on the property.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Woking I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Woking in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Much to my surprise my lawyer in Woking has informed me that he requires personal identification documents stating that this is part of his retainer as a conveyancer on the lender Conveyancing panel. Is this right?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require Woking conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the lender also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the mortgage company's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements