Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Carshalton is not listed on my lender's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the quality of his conveyancing?
That is more than likely a wrong assumption to make. There are all sorts of perfectly plausible explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator revealed that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Where you are concerned you should simply call the Carshalton conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Carshalton? Why is this being asked of me?
You are right in the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Carshalton. However these days you can not complete any conveyancing transaction if you have not handing over proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a bank statement. Please note that if you are providing your driving licence as proof of identification it needs to be both the paper element and photo card part, one is not satisfactory in the absence of the other.
Verification of the origin of money is necessary under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your conveyancer will need to retain this information on record. Your Carshalton conveyancing lawyer will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any money from you into their client account and they should also ask additional questions concerning the origin of monies.
A colleague suggested that if I am purchasing in Carshalton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Carshalton conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Carshalton around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Carshalton Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Carshalton.
It has been five months following my purchase conveyancing in Carshalton took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Carshalton ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks will not give a mortgage on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Carshalton. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Carshalton especially if they are familiar with such properties in Carshalton.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Carshalton agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have submitted an offer on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and has viewings of other apartments booked. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing lawyer in Carshalton. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Principality?
It is usual to have apprehensions where there is an associated chain given your reluctance to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Carshalton conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to check that your lawyer is on the Principality approved list. Concerning the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market the majority of buyers will apply for the mortgage with Principality and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to proceed with searches.