I am assisting my aunt sell her house in Harbury. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange the energy assessment or should I organise this?

Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, EPC’s was maintained a compulsory component of selling a house. An EPC must be commissioned prior to the property being advertised. It is not a task that conveyancers normally arrange. If you are using a Harbury conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with long established Harbury providers

We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Clydesdale as we intend to conduct renovations to our house in Harbury. Are we obliged to select a high street Harbury solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Clydesdale would not normally require firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Clydesdale list.

Aldermore have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a property in Harbury has been accepted, what are the next steps?

The estate agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (make sure the solicitors are on the bank’s approved list). Call up Aldermore or the financial adviser and complete any relevant documentation. Aldermore will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to schedule a time for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Aldermore will issue the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Harbury.

Will our solicitor be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Harbury.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Harbury. There are those who purchase a property in Harbury, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that may be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which should figure out the risks in Harbury. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual question of the vendor to determine whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a purchaser may issue a legal claim for losses as a result of such an misleading reply. A purchaser’s solicitors will also commission an enviro search. This should disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be carried out.

About to purchase a new build apartment in Harbury. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Harbury

The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease.

My cousin has encouraged me to instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in Harbury. Do I take his recommendation?

No doubt the best way to find a conveyancing lawyer is to seek recommendations from friends or family who have used the conveyancer you're contemplating using.

My 20yr old son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. When the offer was accepted on house we contacted the lender to move forward with his. I was disappointed to learn that mortgage companies do not accept all property lawyer, they must be on their panel, is this legal?

Banks ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Harbury conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.