My wife and I are hoping to purchase a 2 bedroom apartment in Stansted with a mortgage. We like our Stansted lawyer, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or retain our Stansted conveyancer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to demand that the lender use our Stansted conveyancer ?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Stansted conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
As a FTB what is the most important piece of guidance you can give me about purchase conveyancing in Stansted?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Stansted or throughout England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of room for confrontation between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. E.g., the seller, estate agent and on occasion a lender. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Stansted is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the legal process whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.
On occasion a potential adversary may attempt to persuade you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the estate agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your solicitor is dragging his heels. Or your financial adviser may try to convince you to do take action that is against your lawyers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Stansted in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Stansted. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Taking into account that I will soon spend £400,000 on a property in Stansted I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor concerning thehome move before giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
This is something that we recommend - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer due to be carrying out your conveyancing in Stansted.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a matter number. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Stansted should be the figure that you end up paying.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Stansted. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Stansted who acted for me is not around. Do I pay?
First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Stansted conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Stansted, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Stansted with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082
With 58 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £22,800 and £26,400 plus costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.