Me and my partner are planning to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in Chulmleigh with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Chulmleigh solicitor, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have no option but to select one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or retain our Chulmleigh solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. We consider that this is inequitable; can we not require that the mortgage company use our Chulmleigh property lawyer ?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Chulmleigh conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Chulmleigh with Co-operative. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Co-operative conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Co-operative. This is solely used to protect Co-operative if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Co-operative had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
My property lawyer in Chulmleigh has never been on on the Santander Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to use my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Santander panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Chulmleigh lawyers but Santander will need to instruct a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal charges as well as result in frustration.
- Find an alternative lawyer to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Convince your lawyer to use their best endeavours to join the Santander conveyancing panel
I got the keys to my house on 13 June and the transaction details is not yet registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Chulmleigh advises it will be recorded in less than a month. Are properties in Chulmleigh uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Chulmleigh registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can vary according to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd parties. As of today approximately three quarters of submission are fully dealt with in less than three weeks but some can be subject to protracted delays. Registration takes place after the new owner is living at the premises so an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
My brother has suggested that I appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Chulmleigh. Do I take his recommendation?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Chulmleigh conveyancing lawyer it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the solicitor that you are are thinking of instructing.
Why do Chulmleigh conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
When buying a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control