My wife and I are looking to purchase a flat in Halesworth and are in fact using a Halesworth conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Halesworth conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard 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 lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Halesworth lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Me and my wife are buying our first house. Our lawyer has contact usto enquire if we want to purchase additional conveyancing searches. Frankly we in the dark as to what's relevant for conveyancing in Halesworth
The number and type of Halesworth conveyancing searches depends entirely on the premises, the location, the likelihood of any of these risks, your knowledge of the region and risks, your general appetite to risk. What is important is that you adequately comprehend what information each search could provide. Then you can make a decision if you consider that you need that information. Should you be uncertain, ask your conveyancer to recommend.
My wife and I are selling our house in Halesworth and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a national conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Halesworth. We have lived in Halesworth for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
Am I better off to instruct a Halesworth conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? We have a good friend who can deal with the legal formalities however they are based a couple of hundredmiles away.
The primary upside of using a high street Halesworth conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your identification documents and pester them if necessary. Having local Halesworth know how is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were content that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Halesworth conveyancing solicitor just because they are Halesworth based.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in Halesworth. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation 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. However, 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).
I own a 1st floor flat in Halesworth, conveyancing having been completed in 1999. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Halesworth with a long lease are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2082
With 56 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.