I am selling my maisonette in Amesbury and the EA has just called to warn that the buyers are switching law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Amesbury ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for over 25 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened 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 claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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.
In the event thatI was to purchase a simple residential propertyin Amesbury mortgage fee and have no survey and no conveyancing searches how much should I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Amesbury?
Any savings you would make will be isolated to the Amesbury conveyancing searches. Your property lawyer is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, communicating with the sellers conveyancing practitioner, SDLT submission, register the ownership etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a mortgage but it will not be a lot.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as a 1st time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Amesbury. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my solicitor? If so, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Amesbury?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Amesbury. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be invited to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
Is it correct that all Amesbury CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the TSB conveyancing list of approved solicitors?
A selection of lenders now utilise CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
Our sealed bid on a property in Amesbury has been agreed to, the owners do however have an associated purchase. The sellers have offered on on an apartment, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Amesbury. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Virgin Money?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Amesbury conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your solicitor is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a rising market many purchasers will apply for a home loan with Virgin Money and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their conveyancer to press on with searches.
What does a local search reveal concerning the property my wife and I buying in Amesbury?
Amesbury conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Searchflow The local search plays a central role in many a Amesbury conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Amesbury and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Amesbury. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Amesbury area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Amesbury. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
Fiveweeks into purchasing a residence in Amesbury. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the property is "Leasehold". Will this likely impact the marketability of the house?
Amesbury conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The crucial factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a nominal rent, it's virtually freehold, so it’s unlikely to affect the marketability significantly.
On the flip side, if it's, say, Sixty years it is bound to have a significant effect on the saleability, and most likely wouldn't be acceptable to the bank. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be set out in the lease to be supplied to your lawyer.