The Spitalfields conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Spitalfields have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a lawyer on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my preferred Spitalfields lawyer was not. I paid them £170 on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a 1st time purchaser of a garden flat in Spitalfields. Do I receive the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Spitalfields?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Spitalfields. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the seller's conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be invited to pick up the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
is it true that all Spitalfields solicitor firms on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Coventry BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Spitalfields solicitor - who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Leeds Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Leeds Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Spitalfields postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Spitalfields.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the main cause of stalling in Spitalfields house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Spitalfields.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Spitalfields I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Spitalfields for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing solicitor in Spitalfields for my sale. Is it possible to check a solicitor's complaints history with the profession’s regulator?
One may review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from inquisitions started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For details Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors record, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor telephone calls for training requirements.