I am not well enough to travel far from Carterton. What is the rationale as to why all Carterton property lawyers aren't automatically on all mortgage company panels?

Pre- 2008 most lenders had an approach to risk which differs from the current day. The FSA in 2010 conducted a thematic review into mortgage fraud which in summary warned lenders: know the conveyancers on your panel. As a result, banks have since soughtmore data from law firms concerning their operations and the individuals employed by them and set certain criteria such as completing a minimum volume of transactions. Hundreds of law practices have been removed from lender panels even though they had 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Such firms found it impossible satisfy the criteria of amount of transactions the mortgage companies required.

Will our lawyer be raising enquiries about flooding during the conveyancing in Carterton.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Carterton. Plenty of people will buy a house in Carterton, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Solicitors are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Carterton. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual inquiry of the owner to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. If the property has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the seller, then a buyer could commence a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect response. A buyer’s lawyers may also carry out an environmental search. This should indicate whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be initiated.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Carterton?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Carterton. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am looking for a flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Carterton I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Carterton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign 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 lawyer regarding this.

Is it possible to transfer to a new solicitor as I need to appoint one who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing list. I instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Carterton five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by Leeds Building Society

It would be our pleasure to assist you find a conveyancing solicitor in Carterton on the Leeds Building Society panel. Please note that the solicitors that we work with do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are under regulation of the Solicitors Regulation Authority who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Carterton. In utilising the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this site, you can contrast costs for conveyancing solicitors in Carterton and beyond.