My fiance and I are hoping to buy a house in Beadnell and have appointed a Beadnell conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Britannia have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Beadnell solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Beadnell lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am hoping to complete my purchase in Beadnell next Friday. My conveyancer now wants me to supply her with proof of content and building insurance for the property as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the bank. What does the insurance need to cover?
All property lawyers on acting for lenders would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 requirements. These obligations are not limited to conveyancing in Beadnell.
A relative recommended that where I am buying in Beadnell I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Beadnell conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Beadnell around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Beadnell Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Beadnell.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in Beadnell. Now, I need my files however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Beadnell of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Beadnell I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Beadnell in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you require a home loan that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities 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 speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.