I plan on buying property in Blackwall. My lawyer has never been on on the lender approved list. Is it possible for me to retain my Blackwall conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the lender list of approved lawyers?
Your options include
- Complete the purchase with your existing Blackwall property lawyer but your bank will undoubtedly retain a conveyancing practitioner on their approved list. This will result in additional charges together with likely interruption.
- Appoint a fresh lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancing practitioner to pull out all the stops to get listed on the mortgage company conveyancing panel
My fiance and I are buying a newbuild flat in Blackwall with a loan from Barclays Direct.We would like to retain our Blackwall conveyancing practitioner but Barclays Direct informed us his firm is not listed on their approved list of firms. we are left little option but to use a Barclays Direct panel solicitor or keep our high street solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Barclays Direct use our lawyer?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the Barclays Direct solicitor panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays Direct
I am assisting my step-mother sell her property in Blackwall. Does the conveyancing solicitor commission the energy assessment or should I organise this?
After the demise of Home Packs, EPC’s was maintained a mandatory component of selling a house. An EPC needs to be commissioned before the property is marketed. It is not something that law firms normally arrange. If you are instructing a Blackwall conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established Blackwall assessors
Are all Blackwall Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their approved list of firms.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Blackwall property lawyer having checked that they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Virgin Money will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Virgin Money will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Blackwall surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I have been told that property searches are the main cause of delay in Blackwall house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Blackwall.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Blackwall I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Blackwall in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I have appointed a Blackwall conveyancing solicitor for our house purchase (novice purchasers) and have picked up in the Ts and Cs that they are not regulated by the FCA. Am I right to be concerned or is that standard with lawyer?
We can't see why they should be. Most lawyer don't lend money. You should check that they are governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who dictate stringent conditions in place on monies sitting by them.