My wife and I are planning to acquire a house in Chislehurst and are in fact using a Chislehurst conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Alliance & Leicester have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Chislehurst lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Chislehurst solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is expelled from the Co-operative Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Chislehurst?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. 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.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as RBS, do Chislehurst solicitors have to pay a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with TSB. Chislehurst conveyancing practitioners were instructed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from TSB?
There is no definitive answer here. Have TSB done the valuation? Have you informed TSB as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the TSB conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I have a mortgage with Bank of Ireland for my property in Chislehurst. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
You must advise Bank of Ireland in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel firm.
I require quick conveyancing in Chislehurst as I have pressure to sign on the dotted line inside 2 weeks. A mortgage is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
If.Given you are are a cash buyer you are at liberty not to do searches although no lawyer would recommend that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Chislehurst the following are instances of issues that can show up and therefore impact future saleability: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Fees, Overdue Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Chislehurst. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Chislehurst of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Chislehurst differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Chislehurst approach us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because developers in Chislehurst typically acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Chislehurst or who has acted in the same development.