My wife and I are hoping to purchase a property in Bubwith and are in fact using a Bubwith conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Bubwith conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Bubwith lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am purchasing a semi-detached house in Bubwith. Can I do my own conveyancing?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Bubwith you will have to appoint a solicitor on your lender's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Bubwith.
We previously appointed solicitors based in Bubwith on the TSB solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for dealing with the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by TSB?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by TSB but by your Bubwith property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the TSB panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
We were going to get a AIP from RBS this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do RBS recommend any Bubwith solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Bubwith solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the RBS conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and RBS through the process.
Our offer on a house in Bubwith has been agreed to, the sellers do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a high street conveyancing solicitor in Bubwith. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Lloyds going?
It is usual to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Bubwith conveyancing search costs, etc). The first course of action is to check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. As to the subsequent steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market the majority of purchasers would apply for a home loan with Lloyds and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their property lawyer to move forward with searches.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Bubwith?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Bubwith. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and found one close by in Bubwith I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Bubwith for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
Am I right to be concerned that estate agents that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Bubwith conveyancing firm?
As with lots of professional services, often referrals from connections can be worth their weight in gold. Yet there are numerous parties with a vested interest in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders may put forward solicitors to appoint. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there may be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You have the right to appoint your own conveyancer. Don't forget that some mortgage providers specify a panel list of lawyers you are obliged to use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.