Our solicitor has uncovered a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Eccleston and St Helens. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must be satisfied that the bank is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
My wife and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Eccleston and St Helens and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a nationwide conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Eccleston and St Helens. We have lived in Eccleston and St Helens for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
Me and my brother own a semi-detached Edwardian property in Eccleston and St Helens. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Clydesdale. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Eccleston and St Helens and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Eccleston and St Helens is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Eccleston and St Helens are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Eccleston and St Helens you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Eccleston and St Helens may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Taking into account that I will soon part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Eccleston and St Helens I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer regarding theconveyancing before giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
We could not agree more - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor who will be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Eccleston and St Helens.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Eccleston and St Helens should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.