My husband and I are planning to acquire a home in Biddenham and have appointed a Biddenham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Biddenham 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 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Biddenham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am buying a house without a mortgage in Biddenham. I have been residing for the last twelve years in Biddenham. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I have knowledge of the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then almost all of the Biddenham conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your conveyancer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she has a professional duty to take that path of encouragement . One thing to take into account; if you are intend to dispose of the house one day, it could be of interest to your prospective buyer what the searches disclose. Sometimes properties with day to day issues can still throw up unpredicted search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Biddenham should be able to give you some practical guidance here.
It is is a decade since I purchased my property in Biddenham. Conveyancing solicitors have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to track down the deeds. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Biddenham involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
How does conveyancing in Biddenham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Biddenham contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Biddenham typically buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Biddenham or who has acted in the same development.
How simple is it to use your search tool to find a conveyancing lawyer in Biddenham on the authorised to act for my lender?
Step one is to select a mortgage company such as Lloyds TSB Bank, Virgin Money or Alliance & Leicester then choose your preferred area for example Biddenham. Conveyancing organisations in Biddenham and across England and Wales should be identified.
I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mother’s Will, with a property in Biddenham which is to be marketed. The bungalow has never been registered at HMLR and I'm told that many purchasers will insist that it is done before they will proceed. What's the procedure for this?
In the situation that you have set out it seems sensible to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.