Me and my partner are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Cirencester with a mortgage. We have a Cirencester lawyer, however the bank says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to instruct one of the bank panel firms or retain our Cirencester conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; can we not require that the lender use our Cirencester conveyancing practitioner ?
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 Cirencester conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in Cirencester. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been instructed on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in all probability the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers procuring current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Cirencester involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
How do I check that the solicitor handling my conveyancing in Cirencester is on the mortgage lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Coventry Building Society thus paying £175.00 in additional legal charges.
You should take advantage of the search tool on this web page. Pick the mortgage company and type ‘Cirencester’ or your preferred area and you will be presented with a number of lawyer located in Cirencester or by proximity to you.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the house moving as FTB of a garden flat in Cirencester. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on completion from my solicitor? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Cirencester?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the seller's solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be able to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
I am the sole beneficiary of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Cirencester. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in March. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in March. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be impacted by that. many mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this clause is principally there to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Cirencester. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My relative advised me that if I am buying in Cirencester I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Cirencester conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Cirencester around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Cirencester Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Cirencester.
Given that I am about to part with £400,000 on a garden flat in Cirencester I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thehouse move in advance of instructing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
We could not agree more - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the conveyancer due to be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Cirencester.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a file number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Cirencester should be the figure that you are charged.