My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a home in Cambridge and have appointed a Cambridge conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Lloyds TSB Bank have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Cambridge lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Cambridge solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the Co-operative Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Cambridge?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
The deeds to our home can not be found. The conveyancers who dealt with the conveyancing in Cambridge 4 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical official documentation to prove you own the land or property, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one near me in Cambridge I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Cambridge suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
My husband and I are 14 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the high street agent to perform conveyancing in Cambridge. I am am extremely frustrated with the level of service. Could you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
They would have to be really poor in order to consider replacing them. Has your mortgage offer been issued? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the new conveyancer and ensure the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company panel to avoid escalating charges and complications. That should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a lender approved conveyancer for your home move in Cambridge