Will lawyers ask for an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Bordon?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bordon your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the purchase price then this will be asked for immediately prior to contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days prior to the completion date.
My Conveyancer in Bordon has never been on on the National Westminster Bank Approved Panel. Can I still continue with my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the National Westminster Bank panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your existing Bordon lawyers but National Westminster Bank will need to use a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal charges and result in delays.
- Get a new practitioner to act in the purchase, remembering to check they are on the National Westminster Bank panel
Is it the case that all Bordon solicitor firms on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Leeds Building Society approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the SRA. The majority of lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be regulated by the CLC.
We had appointed conveyancing lawyers with offices in Bordon on the UBS solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a separate charge for handling the UBS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by UBS?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer can levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by UBS but by your Bordon conveyancer. Numerous firms on the UBS panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
It is not clear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called my Bordon building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Bordon conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Your solicitor has to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two conditions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
My friend suggested that where I am purchasing in Bordon I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Bordon conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Bordon around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bordon Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Bordon Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Bordon.
I am purchasing a new build house in Bordon with a loan from Clydesdale. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about the extras as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
My step-father has urged me to use his lawyers for conveyancing in Bordon. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the best way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to have feedback from friends or relatives who have experience in using the solicitor that you are are thinking of instructing.