My wife and I are hoping to purchase a home in Brinklow and are in fact using a Brinklow conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Brinklow lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brinklow solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Are all Brinklow Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel?
A selection of lenders now utilise the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.
We previously selected solicitors with offices in Brinklow on the Skipton solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Skipton?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer can levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by Skipton but by your Brinklow lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Skipton panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Brinklow. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Yorkshire BS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Yorkshire BS your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Yorkshire BS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Yorkshire BS where a lease fails to satisfy these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Brinklow.
Should my solicitor be asking questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Brinklow.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Brinklow. Some people will acquire a property in Brinklow, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that can be carried out by the buyer or by their solicitors which can give them a better appreciation of the risks in Brinklow. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a standard question of the owner to find out if the premises has ever been flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the seller, then a buyer could commence a compensation claim resulting from an incorrect answer. The purchaser’s solicitors may also commission an enviro search. This will higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be made.
I have recentlydiscovered that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Brinklow for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 10 months ago. How can I establish that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest way to see if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Brinklow conveyancing specialists.
Taking into account that I will soon part with 450k on a property in Brinklow I wish to talk to a solicitor about myhouse move in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?
We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor who will be conducting your property ownership legalities in Brinklow.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a matter number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for your conveyancing in Brinklow should be the figure that you are charged.
Is it true that a Brinklow conveyancing solicitor got sued by a client for failing to conduct the right conveyancing investigations?
We are not aware of such a Brinklow conveyancing matter but it has been reported that, clients purchasing a house in Cumbria successfully sued their lawyer due to development plans to build a wind farm not being picked up in conveyancing searches.
Where you are purchasing in Brinklow It is critical that your conveyancing practitioner purchase all Brinklow conveyancing searches necessary to ensure you have relevant and current information ahead of buying a property.