My wife and I are planning to purchase a property in Pentyrch and have appointed a Pentyrch conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Pentyrch lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 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 Pentyrch solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Me and my fiancee are purchasing our first house. Our conveyancing practitioner has calledto ask if we would like to order additional conveyancing searches. We are really unsure what's recommended for conveyancing in Pentyrch
The range of Pentyrch conveyancing searches should be triggered based primarily on the property, the location, the possibility of any of these risks, your knowledge of the locality and risks, your general appetite to risk. What is important is that you properly comprehend what information the searches could provide. Then you can make a decision if you personally think you need that search. Where you are unclear, ask the conveyancer to recommend.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Pentyrch. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Clydesdale be concerned?
Given that your lender is Clydesdale your lawyer must follow the conveyancing requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Clydesdale. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Clydesdale where a lease does not comply with these requirements. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Pentyrch.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Pentyrch. I have a mortgage offer with Principality. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Principality, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Pentyrch. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Co-operative panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Pentyrch I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Pentyrch for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
In what way does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business offices in Pentyrch and how can your lawyers assist?
The 1954 Act affords a safeguard to business lessees, giving them the legal entitlement to make a request to court for a new tenancy and continue in occupation at the end of an expired lease. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are involved. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Pentyrch is one of the many locations in which the firms we work with are located