My wife and I are looking to purchase a property in Bury St Edmunds and are in fact using a Bury St Edmunds conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. National Westminster Bank have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Bury St Edmunds solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 lawyers to represent them. 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 Bury St Edmunds lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We were just about to sign contracts for a property in Bury St Edmunds. We encountered a problem. The mortgage offer with Skipton Building Society expires on 21/10/2026 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 23/10/2026. Can one prolong the loan offer?
The best person to address this concern is your lawyer who will assess if he or she is should be discussing with the mortgage company, owner’s representatives, estate agents or conceivably all parties taking into account what has happend in your conveyancing as of today.
As someone not used to conveyancing in Bury St Edmunds what is your top tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Bury St Edmunds
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Bury St Edmunds and elsewhere in Suffolk is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. E.g., the seller, estate agent and even potentially a bank. Appointing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Bury St Edmunds is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the process whose responsibility is to look after your best interests and to keep you safe.
There is a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you should always trust your solicitor ahead of all other players in the home moving process.
Should my conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Bury St Edmunds.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Bury St Edmunds. Some people will acquire a house in Bury St Edmunds, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Bury St Edmunds. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard inquiry of the vendor to find out if the property has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer could issue a compensation claim stemming from an misleading answer. The buyer’s lawyers will also conduct an enviro report. This will reveal whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be made.
I'm buying a new build house in Bury St Edmunds with a mortgage from Barclays Direct. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about this deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
My partner has recommend that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Bury St Edmunds. Should I choose my own solicitor?
No doubt the ideal way to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to seek guidance from friends or family who have experience in using the firm that you are are thinking of instructing.