My partner and I are planning to purchase a flat in Barons Court and are in fact using a Barons Court conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Nationwide Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Barons Court lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Barons Court lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My colleague advised me that where I am buying in Barons Court I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Barons Court conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Barons Court around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Barons Court Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Barons Court Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Barons Court.
I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Barons Court I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Barons Court in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I have been recommended by a number of selling agents in Barons Court to select a solicitor on your site. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers over alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t offer any referral fee for sending work our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the agent has warned us that the seller will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's chosen conveyancers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Barons Court
It is unlikely the vendors are behind this. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the owners direct and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to use your own,trusted Barons Court conveyancing firm - as opposed tothose that will provide the negotiator at the agency a commission or meet his conveyancing figures set by head office.
We today become aware that one of the directors of the firm handling the purchase conveyancing in Barons Court is a relative of the seller. Is this permitted?
Provided there is no conflict of interest this is allowable. If you are obtaining mortgage finance then the bank may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific requirements on this. For example for Santander A&L as of 14/12/2024, the requirements read as follows :