I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Cottingham and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Cottingham ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Cottingham?

If you are buying a property in Cottingham your solicitor will request that you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. Generally this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is as part of the sale price then this will be required shortly prior to exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be transferred shortly before completion.

What does a local search reveal concerning the property I am buying in Cottingham?

Cottingham conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Searchflow The local search is essential in every Cottingham conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your new home. The search will supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.

I am buying a new build flat in Cottingham. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Cottingham

The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Cottingham. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear the maintenance contribution as normal because all rents and service charges will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer 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.

Cottingham Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

The answer will be helpful as a) areas may cause problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details Please note that where the lease has less than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension. What is the annual service fee and ground rent?