We wanted to use a property lawyer in Snowdonia for our house purchase. Our financial adviser has since advised us that our mortgage company Chelsea Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
Mortgage Companies tend to imposes restrictions either the category or the volume of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such criteria being that a law practice must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few banks have decided to limit the amount of firms they allow to act for them. You should note that Chelsea Building Society have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Chelsea Building Society Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there remains differing views concerning the level of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Snowdonia only perform one or two conveyances per annum.
My uncle advised me that in purchasing a property in Snowdonia there may be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Snowdonia which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Snowdonia should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
My wife and I purchasing a terrace house in Snowdonia. Our aim is to convert the garage to a playroom at the property.Will legal investigations on the property involve enquiries to ascertain if these works are permitted?
Your property lawyer will check the deeds as conveyancing in Snowdonia can occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain alterations or necessitated the consent of a 3rd party. Many extensions need local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
My partner and I are at the point of viewing apartments in Snowdonia and I am about to put in an offer. Is it wise to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a mortgage with HSBC.
It would be advisable to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with HSBC, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
We are downsizing from our house in Snowdonia and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed a national conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Snowdonia. We have lived in Snowdonia for 5 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You need to 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 illness)
I'm remortgaging my current property to a buy to let mortgage with Santander and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a down payment on further property. The area we are talking about is Snowdonia. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of banks and tie in the transactions?
Make use of our comparison tool on this page to ensure that the conveyancers are approved by both lenders. On the basis that they are the lawyer should be able to simultaneously deal with the two deals but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and specify your expectations and requirements.
I work for a reputable estate agency in Snowdonia where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Snowdonia conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Snowdonia - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
-
How many years remain on the lease? The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders have control and although a managing agent is frequently employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. If a Snowdonia lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension.