My friend's mother is a conveyancing practitioner. I suspect that I will receive mate’s pricing for conveyancing, but if not, what level of fees would I typically be looking at for conveyancing in Kensington?
Do contrast pricing. Make use of our comparison tool on this site. The charges may be different but service levels do differ between law firms as is true with most professions.
My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Kensington. I I would like to check whether they are accepted on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel. Could you assist?
You should contact your lawyer and ask them whether they are on the lender panel. Alternatively you can get in touch with Skipton Building Society who may be able to help.
Will my solicitor be making enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Kensington.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in Kensington. There are those who buy a property in Kensington, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which will figure out the risks in Kensington. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual question of the vendor to find out if the property has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a purchaser may commence a compensation claim stemming from an incorrect answer. A purchaser’s conveyancers should also conduct an environmental report. This will indicate if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be conducted.
Me and my brother have a renovated Georgian property in Kensington. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and National Westminster Bank. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. Is it worth asking National Westminster Bank to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kensington and other locations in 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 check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
My step-son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the offer was accepted on house we telephoned the mortgage company to issue the formal offer. I was very surprised to discover that mortgage lenders do not accept all lawyer, they have to be on a list, is this correct?
Banks tend to restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Kensington lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.