My fiance and I are buying a ground floor flat in Worcester. My property lawyer is not on the lender conveyancing panel. Am I still permitted to appoint my Worcester conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company panel?
One must use a lawyer to complete the legal work required when you require a loan to buy your home. The conveyancer will carry out all the relevant legal checks on the property, make sure that you’re properly registered as the owner and ensure that all the required mortgage paperwork is in place. One can instruct a Worcester conveyancer of your choosing. Nevertheless, where the solicitor selected is not a member of the bank conveyancing panel additional costs will be incurred as separate legal representation will be need by the bank. Lender panel applications can be submitted, so where your conveyancer has not in the past applied for membership they should take the chance to apply.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Worcester? Is this really warranted?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to check the ID of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing instruction. The Terms of Engagement that you are required to sign should stipulate this. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the CML Lenders Handbook requirements last updated on 1st December 2014. If you are unwilling to provide identification documents, your lawyer would not be able to accept instructions from you.
How does conveyancing in Worcester differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Worcester come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because house builders in Worcester tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Worcester or who has acted in the same development.
Am I best advised to instruct a Worcester conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am buying? We have a good friend who can perform the legal formalities but his firm is located 300miles away.
The benefit of a high street Worcester conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local Worcester know how is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were content that must surpass using an unfamiliar Worcester conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Worcester based.
I own a leasehold flat in Worcester. Conveyancing was finished in 2011. I have been told that I should not allow the lease length get too short. Is this correct?
Worcester leasehold properties are for a fixed term - normally ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Worcester were constructed or converted 35 or more years ago and so these leases now have under eighty years unexpired. This may seem like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years unexpired to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching eighty years. To optimize your property value you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also strong financial reasons to doing so before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease is below 80 years the premium to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.