My husband and I are planning to buy a house in Chapel En Le Frith and have appointed a Chapel En Le Frith conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Chapel En Le Frith conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers 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 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Chapel En Le Frith solicitors, 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 it true that all Chapel En Le Frith solicitor practices on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Virgin Money approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the CLC.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Chapel En Le Frith. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Santander be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander your lawyer must check the formal instructions outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Santander. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Santander where a lease fails to comply with these provisions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Chapel En Le Frith.
It is unclear whether my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Chapel En Le Frith building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Chapel En Le Frith conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their published requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the conveyancer is on the bank panel, she or he must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I'm buying a new build house in Chapel En Le Frith with a mortgage from National Westminster Bank. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about the extras as it will put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Chapel En Le Frith in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may refuse to give a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Chapel En Le Frith. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Chapel En Le Frith. I've stumble across a web site which seems to have the ideal solution If it is possible to get all this stuff done via email that would be preferable. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
We have appointed a Chapel En Le Frith conveyancing solicitor for our home move (FTB’s) and have spotted in the engagement letter that they are not governed by the Financial Conduct Authority. Am I right to be concerned or is that the norm with conveyancing practitioner?
We can't see why they should be. Most solicitor don't lend money. They should be regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who have specific conditions covering monies deposited by them.