My partner and I are looking to acquire a home in Hindhead and have appointed a Hindhead conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Skipton Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Hindhead lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 Hindhead solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I purchased a freehold property in Hindhead but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Hindhead and has limited impact for conveyancing in Hindhead but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be extinguished.
My grandmother passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Hindhead. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Skipton, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Where you plan to refinance then Skipton will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Skipton mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I bought my home on 12 September and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Hindhead advises it should be recorded inside ten days. Are titles in Hindhead uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in Hindhead registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. Rather than based on location, timescales can differ subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any interested persons or bodies. Currently approximately three quarters of such applications are completed within 12 days but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration takes place once the purchaser is living at the property thus post completion formalities is not typically an essential issue but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
My intention is to acquire a ground floor maisonette in Hindhead. Conveyancing solicitor has been awaiting, from the owner, building insurance schedule. I was told today I was informed that the owner must forward the insurance documents for the flat above as well. Why does my lawyer need to see the insurance for the other flat? Is it really necessary? We have been in hold for the last 2 weeks…
It is not impossible in leasehold conveyancing in Hindhead to discover Conveyancing in Hindhead in a minority of cases reveals that the lease provides for the leasehold owners to insure their individual flats as opposed to the landlord insuring the whole building - which is clearly preferable. Do double check with your conveyancer but it would seem that your solicitor is attempting to verify that the complete building is insured. Insuring your flat is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the 1st floor cannot be rebuilt due to lack of insurance.