Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in Gurnard. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?

Now that you have legally committed yourself to purchase you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are facing a tight a fixed date to complete the deal. Every auction property will ordinarily have a bespoke auction set of papers. This will include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the auction pack may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You must give this to the conveyancer working for you as soon as possible. Do make sure that you have funds in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.

Are all Gurnard Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel?

It is true that some lenders now make use of CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.

We had appointed solicitors with offices in Gurnard on the UBS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further charge for dealing with the UBS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by UBS?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your property lawyer may levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by UBS but by your Gurnard conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the UBS panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many firms incorporate it on their overall fee.

I have been told that property searches are a common reason for delay in Gurnard house deals. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Gurnard.

I got the keys to my flat on 16 January and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Gurnard advises it will be registered in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Gurnard particularly slow to register?

As far as conveyancing in Gurnard registration is no quicker or slower than anywhere else in the country. Rather than based on location, timescales can adjust depending on who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd persons or bodies. At present approximately 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to longer delays. Registration occurs after the buyer has moved in to the premises so an expedited registration is not always top priority yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

I am looking for a conveyancing practitioner in Gurnard for my remortgage. Is there any facility to see a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?

You can review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could monitor call for training purposes.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Gurnard. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Gurnard Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

For most Gurnard leaseholds the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Gurnard require leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works. This information is helpful as a) areas could cause problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have complete disclosure What is the name of the managing agents?