My wife and I are looking to purchase a house in Badminton and have instructed a Badminton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Badminton conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Badminton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Due to complete my purchase in Badminton next Monday. I have now been asked to send a copy of my building insurance schedule by my solicitor as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the lender. What risks does the bank expect the insurance to cover?
All property lawyers on acting for banks would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 requirements. These requirements are not unique to conveyancing in Badminton.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Badminton. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Now that you have exchanged you should hire the services of a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you will have a tight a drop dead date to complete the deal. An auction property will have a corresponding legal pack. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your lawyer will need. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You need to hand this to the solicitor working for you at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete on the on the contractual date .
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a ground floor flat in Badminton. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Badminton?
On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Badminton. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be called to pick up the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Badminton. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
Various internet forums that I have visited warn that are the primary cause of stalling in Badminton house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Badminton.
I am buying my first flat in Badminton with a mortgage from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my lawyer about this extras as it will affect my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Badminton in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to give a mortgage on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you call us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Badminton. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Badminton to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.