My lawyer has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Canford Cliffs. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must check that the mortgage company is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
The Canford Cliffs conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Canford Cliffs have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the UBS conveyancing panel and my family Canford Cliffs lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors 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 UBS 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 should be in a position to help.
Me and my partner are buying a apartment in Canford Cliffs. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? On the day of competition we have to send our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
Skipton have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a flat in Canford Cliffs has been accepted, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will need to be advised as to your solicitor's details (ensure that the lawyers are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone Skipton or the broker and finalise any appropriate documentation. Skipton will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to schedule an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight to get a mortgage offer. Skipton will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Canford Cliffs.
After what feels like an age I have had an offer on a flat in Canford Cliffs agreed to, the sellers do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The sellers have offered on on an apartment, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other apartments in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Canford Cliffs. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Barclays?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Canford Cliffs conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many home buyers will apply for a home loan with Barclays and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their property lawyer to move forward with searches.
My relative recommended that where I am buying in Canford Cliffs I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Canford Cliffs conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Canford Cliffs around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Canford Cliffs.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Canford Cliffs with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about this side-deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.