What is the first thing I need to know concerning purchase conveyancing in Keswick?
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Keswick and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. For example, the seller, property agent and sometimes the mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Keswick an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the process whose responsibility is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.
There is a definite creep in the "blame" culture- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you should always trust your solicitor ahead of the other players in the home moving process.
The Keswick conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Keswick have suddenly closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred Keswick lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Keswick. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Soon after, the conveyancer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Keswick solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS 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. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Keswick postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Keswick.
At last I have had an offer on a flat in Keswick accepted, but there is a chain. The sellers have offered on on an apartment, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Keswick. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with UBS?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Keswick conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the UBS approved list. Concerning the next phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot market some purchasers will apply for the mortgage with UBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Keswick.
We are selling our home in Keswick and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed a web based conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Keswick. Having lived in Keswick for many years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
What is the reason for my property lawyer requiring a list of items of identification ahead of starting selling or purchasing a property in Keswick?
Keswick property lawyers are required by the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority, HM Land Registry and current Money Laundering Regulations to record that the have checked the identity of their clients. It will also be a requirement of your mortgage offer. Furthermore they have to complete various forms, particularly those relating to Land Tax and need to have details such as your full names, national insurance number and date of birth.