My husband and I are hoping to acquire a property in Chippenham and have appointed a Chippenham conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Chippenham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Chippenham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our lawyer has uncovered a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Chippenham. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner has advised that he must check that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the bank does not mean to say that the property will meet their conditions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. You and the mortgage company are the client. The appropriate lender requirements have to be complied with.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Chippenham costs more?
Chippenham leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
I have todaybeen informed that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Chippenham for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Chippenham conveyancing specialists.
I have been pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Chippenham to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your services over and above a competitor’s?
We don’t make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the selling agent has warned us that the seller will only move forward if we appoint the agent's recommended lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in Chippenham
It is improbable the owners are behind this. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your preferred Chippenham conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothe ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by senior management.