We are buying a newly built flat in Cheltenham and my lawyer is telling me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the developer. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and I would rather not delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Kent Reliance Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Cheltenham?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Kent Reliance as we want to conduct renovations to our house in Cheltenham. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar Cheltenham solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Kent Reliance would not normally instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Cheltenham on 18/12/2024, valuation was booked 3 days after, all came back fine. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Are TSB entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Our sealed bid on a detached house in Cheltenham has been agreed to, the vendors do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The owners have placed an offer on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Cheltenham. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Principality going?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then valuation, Cheltenham conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must check that your solicitor is on the Principality approved list. Regarding the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market many buyers would apply for a home loan with Principality and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with searches.
I am purchasing a new build house in Cheltenham benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this extras as it could impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
We're FTB’s - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent informed us that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct their recommended conveyancers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Cheltenham
It is improbable the sellers are behind this. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious purchaser is counter productive. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you will continue to appoint your own,trusted Cheltenham conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by senior management.
At what stage do I pay the Stamp Duty Land Tax payable for my Cheltenham property purchase?
Your conveyancer should complete a stamp duty return on your behalf during your Cheltenham purchase transaction for signature. After completion your property lawyer will submit the STL Return Form to the Tax Authorities and - as long as they have the money - pay any tax bill due on your behalf.