My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Lightwater and are in fact using a Lightwater conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Lightwater solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Lightwater solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am helping my sister sell her property in Lightwater. Does the solicitor commission an EPC or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of HIPs, energy performance certificates remained a compulsory part of selling a property. An energy performance certificate should be commissioned in advance of the property being advertised. This is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms normally organise. Where you are instructing a Lightwater conveyancing practitioner they might be able to arrange EPC’s due to their relationships with reputable local energy assessors
We are getting the release of further monies on our home loan from Clydesdale as we wish to conduct alterations to our house in Lightwater. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Lightwater solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Clydesdale would not normally instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Clydesdale panel.
About to purchase house in Lightwater. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the RBS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Lightwater property lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Lightwater?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Lightwater. 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…’
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Lightwater is the location of the property. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Lightwater are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Lightwater you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Lightwater may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Are Lightwater conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing figures?
Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Lightwater or across England and Wales.