My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a house in Broughton Astley and are in fact using a Broughton Astley conveyancing practice. 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. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Broughton Astley solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Accreditation 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Broughton Astley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Broughton Astley. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Virgin Money, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you plan to re-mortgage then Virgin Money will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Virgin Money mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
We previously selected conveyancers locally in Broughton Astley on the Kent Reliance solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental charge for handling the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Kent Reliance?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer may levy a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Kent Reliance but by your Broughton Astley conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Kent Reliance panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Broughton Astley. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Yorkshire BS are being a right pain. The Broughton Astley solicitor who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Yorkshire BS are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Yorkshire BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Yorkshire BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Yorkshire BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Broughton Astley. Now, I need the files but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact 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 Broughton Astley 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.
How does conveyancing in Broughton Astley differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Broughton Astley come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is ready to move into. This is because builders in Broughton Astley tend to acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Broughton Astley or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Broughton Astley prior to appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will not grant a loan on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Broughton Astley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Broughton Astley to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.