My fiance and I are looking to purchase a home in Beaconsfield and have appointed a Beaconsfield conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Beaconsfield solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Beaconsfield lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for stalling in Beaconsfield house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Beaconsfield.
My wife and I own a renovated Georgian house in Beaconsfield. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Beaconsfield and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Beaconsfield prior to instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to give a mortgage on this type of premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Beaconsfield. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Beaconsfield to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
Am I right to be concerned about brokers that I am dealing with are recommending an internet conveyancing firm rather than a local Beaconsfield conveyancing firm?
As is the case with lots of service providers, often input from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. Nevertheless there are many players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies may recommend lawyers to retain. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there may be a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You have the discretion to appoint your preferred lawyer. Don't forget that many mortgage providers specify a panel list of solicitors you are obliged to use for the lender related work in your home move.
I have recently placed an offer on an apartment in Beaconsfield and the mortgage adviser that we are using recommended his property lawyer. They quoted a thousand pounds plus VAT and 3rd party costs. Does this sound steep?
Don't just go on a single estimate. One should seek like-for-like quotes for your conveyancing in Beaconsfield. Then choose one that you trust and crucially, is on the approved panel of the mortgage company that you are sourcing your mortgage from.