I am six weeks into the sale of my home in Brentford and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Brentford ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
My fiance and I swapping mortgage lender for our penthouse in Brentford with HSBC. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of HSBC had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
My property lawyer in Brentford is not on the Birmingham Midshires Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Birmingham Midshires panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Brentford lawyers but Birmingham Midshires will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional overall legal fees as well as result in frustration.
- Get an alternative lawyer to act in the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Birmingham Midshires approved.
- Try to convince your Birmingham Midshires solicitor to seek to join the Birmingham Midshires panel
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Brentford. Now, I need the files but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Brentford of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Am I better off to go with a Brentford conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal formalities however her office is 200miles away.
The benefit of a high street Brentford conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and in the main were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar Brentford conveyancing solicitor just because they are based in the area.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Brentford. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just received a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge as you normally would because all ground rent and service invoices will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Brentford conveyancing firm to assist?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Brentford conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Brentford property is 105 & 105A Seaford Road in July 2013. The tribunal determined that the price payable for the freehold interest in the Property was £43,985 . This sum was to be paid into Brentford County Court to enable the matter to proceed This case affected 2 flats.