My husband and I are planning to purchase a flat in Conwy and are in fact using a Conwy conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Bank of Ireland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Conwy conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Conwy lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Do the conveyancing lawyers identified via your search tool conduct auction conveyancing in Conwy?
We know of a few niche practitioners we can connect you with those specialising in auction conveyancing. Conwy is just one of the many areas of where our lawyers have a presence.
Completed the sale of my flat in Conwy last September yet the purchaser is texting every few hours complaining that their conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
Post completion of your sale your lawyer should deliver the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Where appropriate, your lawyer should also send confirmation that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures specific conveyancing in Conwy.
Me and my brother have a renovated Edwardian house in Conwy. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Conwy and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Conwy is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Conwy are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Conwy you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Conwy may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.