My husband and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom flat in Whiston with a mortgage. We have a Whiston conveyancer, however the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel firms or keep our Whiston property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We feel that this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose 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 Whiston conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
The Whiston conveyancing firm handling our Whiston conveyancing has spotted an inconsistency when comparing the information in the home valuation survey and what is in the conveyancing documents. My solicitor says that he needs to ensure that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my solicitor’s approach right?
Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Whiston? What am I being asked for?
You are right in these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Whiston. Nowadays you will not be able to proceed with any conveyancing transaction without first supplying evidence of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as evidence of ID it needs to be both the paper section and photo card part, one is not sufficient without the other.
Evidence of your source of money is mandated under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when when this is requested of you as your lawyer must retain this information on file. Your Whiston conveyancing solicitor will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any funds from you into their client account and they will also ask additional queries concerning the source of monies.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Whiston I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Whiston for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Whiston. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Whiston who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Whiston conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Whiston, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Whiston with an extended lease are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2083
You have 57 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
My step-son is embarking on her first house purchase, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. After the offer was accepted on house we telephoned the mortgage company to go forward with his. I was very surprised to hear that mortgage companies do not accept all conveyancer, they have to be on a list, is this legal?
Lenders ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Whiston lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.