My husband and I are planning to buy a flat in Ewloe and have instructed a Ewloe conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Aldermore have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Ewloe solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 and you may continue to use your own Ewloe solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Are the BSA intent on creating a search tool with a view to to identify firms on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel for example in Ewloe?
Lexsure has not been advised of any plans on the part of the BSA to develop such a register.
Will my solicitor be asking questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Ewloe.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Ewloe. There are those who acquire a house in Ewloe, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the buyer or by their conveyancers which can give them a better appreciation of the risks in Ewloe. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a usual question of the seller to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser could bring a compensation claim resulting from an misleading response. The purchaser’s solicitors should also order an environmental search. This should indicate if there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be conducted.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Ewloe I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Ewloe for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
Myself and my partner have just had an offer accepted on a flat and had meeting on Friday with Leeds Building Society for the mortgage. They warned us that when it comes to choosing a property lawyer that unless they are on their approved panel of property lawyers then we will be subject to an an additional charge of about two hundred pounds. This is because they will then have to instruct a conveyancer to act for them in addition to the one we choose to act for ourselves and we are liable for their fees. I have requested Leeds Building Society to furnish me with a list so I can request quotes only from their approved conveyancers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is their an easier way of going about this?
You should ask Leeds Building Society what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the conveyancer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on mortgages for Leeds Building Society in the past. Where the answer to those is yes, then just double check with Leeds Building Society. Another option is to utilise our search facility and we may be able to identify a solicitor in Ewloe on the approved list for Leeds Building Society.