My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a home in Low Moor and are in fact using a Low Moor conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Low Moor solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Low Moor lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
It is a dozen years since I purchased my house in Low Moor. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find the deeds. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they could stored with the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Low Moor involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more problematic but is resolvable.
I am mortgaging my apartment in Low Moor, does my lawyer have to be on the RBS Conveyancing panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the RBS conveyancing panel, but RBS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Low Moor. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Low Moor?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Low Moor. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the seller's solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I currently have a mortgage with TSB for my property in Low Moor. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform TSB?
Your original mortgage agreement with TSB will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of TSB’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact TSB directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a TSB conveyancing panel lawyer.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Low Moor conveyancer having checked that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Low Moor surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
We are midway through purchasing a residence in Low Moor. Conveyancing lawyer has phoned to say the title is "Leasehold". Does this adversely affect our HSBC valuation?
Low Moor conveyancing does not in most situations involve leasehold houses. The key consideration here is the unexpired lease term and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's virtually freehold, so it shouldn't impact the marketability significantly.
On the flip side, if it's, say, Sixty years it will have a adverse effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be stated in the lease to be supplied to your conveyancing practitioner.