My husband and I are hoping to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in Colyers with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Colyers solicitor, but the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Colyers solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We feel that this is unjust; can we not require that the mortgage company use our Colyers conveyancing practitioner ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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. A further alternative is for your Colyers conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Having spent time researching consumer advice sites for an affordable solicitor in Colyers, many advise that I should use a CQS accredited lawyer. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in home ownership transfers, trusted by some of the UK's leading mortgage companies. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Legal Ombudsman. The scheme does not cover licenced conveyancers. Colyers is one of the many areas in England and Wales where there are CQS lawyers.
A colleague recommended that if I am buying in Colyers I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Colyers conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Colyers around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Colyers.
Given that I am about to spend £400,000 on a garden flat in Colyers I would like to talk to a solicitor regarding theconveyancing prior to appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?
Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor due to be conducting your property ownership legalities in Colyers.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a file number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for your conveyancing in Colyers should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Colyers. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Colyers - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I am the leaseholder of a ground floor flat in Colyers. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Colyers residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.