My partner and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Burgess Hill and have instructed a Burgess Hill conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Burgess Hill lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual 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 bank 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Burgess Hill lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Burgess Hill costs more?
The conveyancing charges for a leasehold property in Burgess Hill is often greater than on a freehold transaction. This is because there is an amount of supplemental work required in dealing with the freeholder and managing agents to obtain evidence about whether the rent and service charges have been paid and whether there are any significant expenditure in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
I am considering refinancing my flat in Burgess Hill, does my lawyer need to be on the Clydesdale Conveyancing panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Clydesdale will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Burgess Hill benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the extras as it would affect my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Burgess Hill is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in Burgess Hill are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Burgess Hill you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Burgess Hill may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I need to consider estimates for conveyancing in Burgess Hill from three conveyancing practitioner and decide on one. Should I tell them to hold tight until I a suitable house to buy.
We suggest that you only ask your conveyancing practitioner to open a file and apply for searches after the sales memo has been sent by the estate agent especially as Burgess Hill conveyancing searches are costly.