I am one month into the sale of my apartment in Abertridwr and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are appointing a new conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Abertridwr ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.
Lending institutions justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Kent Reliance, do Abertridwr property lawyers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
My wife and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Abertridwr and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a solicitor appointed at this stage? I will be getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Kent Reliance, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Coventry BS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a flat in Abertridwr has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your estate agent will wish to be informed of your property lawyer's details (ensure that the conveyancers are on the bank’s panel). Telephone Coventry BS or your financial adviser and complete any relevant paperwork. Coventry BS will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to arrange a time for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately ten days to receive the mortgage offer. Coventry BS will issue the offer to you and your solicitors. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Abertridwr.
A friend advised me that where I am purchasing in Abertridwr I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Abertridwr conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Abertridwr around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Abertridwr Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Abertridwr.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Abertridwr prior to appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks may not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Abertridwr. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
My husband and I are 14 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to handle our conveyancing in Abertridwr. I am am starting to be disappointed with the level of service. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
They would need to be really bad to suggest replacing them. Has the mortgage been sent? If so you will need to advise them of the new solicitor and have the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your new solicitor ideally should be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid added expenses and frustration. So that should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Abertridwr
Our property lawyer in Abertridwr has informed me that he requires personal identification documents saying that this forms part of his retainer as a solicitor on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. Can this be correct?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not unique to conveyancing in Abertridwr