The Battersea conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Battersea have suddenly closed. I chose them because I needed a solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and my previous Battersea lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
My partner and I are in the throws of looking at apartments in Battersea and I am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I am planning to take a mortgage with Co-operative.
It would be wise to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. Given that you are taking out a mortgage with Co-operative, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Bank of Ireland are being pedantic. The Battersea solicitor who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Bank of Ireland are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Bank of Ireland have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Bank of Ireland have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Bank of Ireland may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Battersea on 25/10/2024, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Aldermore and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Are Aldermore entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Various online forums that I have come across warn that are the number one reason for hinderance in Battersea house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Battersea.
Is it possible to switch firm as I have to appoint one who is on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel. I had appointed a local conveyancing solicitor in Battersea five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by Skipton Building Society
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in Battersea on the Skipton Building Society panel. Please note that the law firms that we on the directory do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are under regulation of the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Battersea. Using the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can scrutinise charges for conveyancing solicitors in Battersea and beyond.
I am an executor of my recently deceased aunt’s Will, with a house in Battersea which is to be marketed. The property has never been registered at the Land Registry and I'm told that some estate agents will insist that it is completed before they will move forward. What's the procedure for this?
In the situation you refer to it seems prudent to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and certified copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.