The Battle conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Battle have without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my family Battle lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Battle what would it be?
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Battle conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as FTB of a garden flat in Battle. Do I pick up the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Battle?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Battle. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to receive the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Lloyds, do Battle lawyers face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the main reason for delay in Battle house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Battle.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Battle I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Battle in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you require a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass 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 lawyer concerning this.
Taking into account that I will soon spend £400,000 on a garden flat in Battle I would like to talk to a lawyer regarding thehouse move ahead of giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
This is something that we encourage - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer who will be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Battle.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important person, not a case reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for residential conveyancing in Battle should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.