My partner and I are looking to buy a home in Church Stretton and are in fact using a Church Stretton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Church Stretton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal 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 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Church Stretton 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.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Church Stretton? Why is this being asked of me?
Church Stretton conveyancing solicitors and indeed property lawyers throughout the UK have an obligation under Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules to verify the identity of any client in order to satisfy themselves that clients are who they say they are.
Conveyancing clients will need to produce two forms of certified identification; proof of identity (usually a Passport or Driving Licence) and proof of address (typically a Bank Statement less than 3 months old).
Proof of the origin of monies is also necessary under the money laundering statutes as conveyancers have a duty to investigate that the funds you are utilising to purchase a property (be it the exchange deposit or the total purchase price if you are buying mortgage free) has come from a reputable source (such as employment savings) as opposed to the proceeds of criminal behaviour.
we are a couple who wish to acquire a 3 bedroom apartment in Church Stretton with a homeloan from Barclays Direct.We like our Church Stretton conveyancing practitioner but Barclays Direct says her practice is not listed on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Barclays Direct panel solicitor or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for a Barclays Direct panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Barclays Direct use our lawyer?
No, not really. The loan issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the Barclays Direct conveyancing panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of solicitors 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays Direct
What can a local search reveal concerning the property I am buying in Church Stretton?
Church Stretton conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Xpress Legal The local search plays a central role in most Church Stretton conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search will reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic headings.
Me and my brother purchased a terraced Victorian property in Church Stretton. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Clydesdale. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Church Stretton and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Church Stretton is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Church Stretton are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Church Stretton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Church Stretton may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.