My fiance and I are planning to purchase a home in West Heath and are in fact using a West Heath conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our West Heath conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own West Heath solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Me and my partner are soon to complete on the purchase of a house in West Heath but as a result of wreckage from the recent storms I have was able negotiate compensation from the vendor of six thousand pounds by way of a deduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of a side agreement but Bank of Ireland are not allowing this. Should they have been informed?
Your conveyancing practitioner being on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is obliged to inform Bank of Ireland of any amendments to the purchase price. If you prohibit your solicitor to disclose the price change to Bank of Ireland then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Bank of Ireland and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in West Heath.
I purchased a freehold house in West Heath but nevertheless invoiced for rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in West Heath and has limited impact for conveyancing in West Heath 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 many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 will be extinguished.
The West Heath conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my house acquisition in West Heath have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel and my family West Heath lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would 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 Aldermore 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 lawyers should be in a position to help.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in West Heath I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in West Heath suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.