It is is a decade since I acquired my house in Batley. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by your lender or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who handled your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Batley involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
I am the only beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Batley. The Batley property was put into my name in January. I plan to dispose of the house. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in January. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be caught by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the lender as this provision is primarily there to pick up on subsales or the quick reselling of properties.
We previously appointed solicitors located in Batley on the Skipton solicitor panel. They have just billed me a separate charge for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Skipton?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer may levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Skipton but by your Batley conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the Skipton panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
The mortgage over my property is with Lloyds for my property in Batley. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Lloyds?
You must advise Lloyds in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel firm.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Batley. Now, I need the documents but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Batley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Batley I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Batley suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
In sourcing the internet for the term conveyancing in Batley it reveals numerous solicitorslocally. How do I determine which is the suitable property lawyer for my move?
The best method of finding a suitable conveyancer is via trusted testimonial, so enquire of colleagues and family who have bought a property in Batley or the local estate agent or mortgage broker. Costs for conveyancing in Batley differ, so it's advisable to request a minimum of three quotes from varying types of law firms. Be sure to seek confirmation that the fees are fixed.