My fiance and I are looking to buy a home in Box and are in fact using a Box conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Birmingham Midshires have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Box lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 bank 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Box solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Are the Box conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Skipton conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Skipton?
Box conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Skipton directly.
My uncle informed me that in purchasing a property in Box there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Box which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Box should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I am the single beneficiary of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Box. The Box property was put into my name in July. I plan to dispose of the house. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in July. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the lender as this obligation primarily exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Box. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Lloyds?
Lloyds must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. You need not do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel solicitor.
What can a local search inform me regarding the house my wife and I purchasing in Box?
Box conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for example Onsearch The local search is essential in every Box conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject sections.
Just acquired a detached house in Box , how long will it take for the Land Registry to register my ownership? My Box conveyancing solicitor has been very slow, so I want to be certain that my name is registered.
As far as conveyancing in Box is concerned, registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any interested persons or bodies. At present roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed within 12 days but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration is effected after the purchaser is living at the property thus 'speed' is not typically top priority but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer can contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing practitioner in Box for my purchase. Can I see a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?
One may read documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from investigations started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could recorded telephone calls for training reasons.