My husband and I are approaching an exchange on a property in Staines and my mum and dad have sent the exchange deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to disclose this to my lender. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the mortgage company regarding my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
Your property lawyer is legally required to check with lender to make sure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only report this to your lender if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in Staines. Conveyancing lawyers have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the lender or they could stored with the solicitor who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Staines involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
I'm in the throws of viewing houses in Staines and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have my property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Co-operative.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. As you are taking out a mortgage with Co-operative, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
The mortgage over my property is with Coventry BS for my property in Staines. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Coventry BS?
Your original mortgage agreement with Coventry BS will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Coventry BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Coventry BS will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Coventry BS directly. You need not do this via a Coventry BS conveyancing panel lawyer.
I had an offer accepted on a house in Staines on 19/3/2024, valuation was booked 3 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Skipton and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Are Skipton entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Skipton to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Staines I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Staines in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount 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 may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Why can I not complete our conveyancing in Staines on a public holiday?
Because on completion the funds needs to pass between the banks of the buyer and owner’s property lawyer and currently this can only take place on a business day. So you can't complete on a saturday or sunday either.