I am one month into the sale of my house in Aintree and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are swapping property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Aintree ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose 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 do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
As someone not used to conveyancing in Aintree what is the number one tip you can give me for the ownership transfer in Aintree
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Aintree or throughout Merseyside is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, property agent and sometimes the bank. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Aintree is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a worrying increase of a "blame" culture- someone has to be at fault for the process taking so long. You should always trust your conveyancer above the other parties in the home moving process.
How do I discover of the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in Aintree is on the lender’sapproved panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Barclays thus spending £187.00 plus VAT in additional conveyancing costs.
Please do make the most of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this site. Pick the lender and type ‘Aintree’ or your location and you will see a number of lawyer offices in Aintree or nearest you.
is it true that all Aintree conveyancing solicitors on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Aintree. An unusual 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 set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Clydesdale. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Clydesdale where a lease does not comply with these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Aintree.
The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore for my property in Aintree. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish 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 Aldermore?
Aldermore must be informed of your intention in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’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 Aldermore directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor.
It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in Aintree completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I was recommended by a few property agents in Aintree to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to promote your site over a competitor’s?
We don’t give any commission for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.