My partner and I are planning to buy a flat in Brondesbury and have instructed a Brondesbury conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Mortgage Works have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Brondesbury lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual 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 solicitor should contact your lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brondesbury solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My fiance and I are refinancing our penthouse in Brondesbury with Bank of Ireland. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as he did not need 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?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Bank of Ireland. This is solely used to protect Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Brondesbury. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I can't track down the title documents. Is this a major issue?
Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they could stored with the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Brondesbury relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
My colleague suggested that where I am purchasing in Brondesbury I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Brondesbury conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Brondesbury around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Brondesbury Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Brondesbury.
My company is hoping to take over a lease of an office on a shopping parade. Can you recommend lawyers offering no-sale-no fees for commercial conveyancing in Brondesbury for less than £2000?
We can recommend firms who host a wealth of experience of commercial conveyancing in Brondesbury, including the sale and acquisition of businesses as well as simply premises. Whether you are intending to acquire or dispose of a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a complete business we will put you in touch with the right solicitor. As for the fees these will vary based on the structure and terms of the deal. Let us have your contact information or telephone so as to enable us to furnish you with comprehensive commercial conveyancing quote.
Our conveyancing solicitor in Brondesbury has informed me that he requires ID documents saying that this forms part of his retainer as a solicitor on the lender Conveyancing panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not specific to conveyancing in Brondesbury