My fiance and I are hoping to buy a home in Clun and are in fact using a Clun conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Clun solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 and you may continue to use your own Clun solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
The sellers of the house we are looking to purchase are using a conveyancing practitioner in Clun who has recommended a exclusivity contract with a payment 10k. Are such agreements sensible?
Exclusivity agreements are agreements between a home vendor and purchaser granting the buyer exclusive rights to purchase the property within an agreed time frame. For all intents and purposes, an exclusivity agreement is a contract specifying that you should receive a contract at a later time being the contract for the actual sale. It tends to be utilised for buyer confidence though in some cases, the vendor may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are numerous positives and negatives to having an agreement but you should to check with your conveyancer but beware that it may end up costing you more in conveyancing charges. In light of these reasons these agreements are unusual in relation to conveyancing in Clun.
Are the BSA planning on creating a searchable register to list firms on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel for example in Clun?
We are not aware of any plans on the part of the BSA to develop such a search facility.
Is it the case that all Clun CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Virgin Money conveyancing list of approved solicitors?
A selection of banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to remain on their panels.
The mortgage over my property is with Nottingham for my property in Clun. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish 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 Nottingham?
You must advise Nottingham before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’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 Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel firm.
Our offer on a house in Clun has been accepted, the owners do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on a property, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have chosen a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Clun. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Santander?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Clun conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is check that your lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a hot market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Clun.
I'm converting the mortgage on my primary home to a buy to let loan with Barclays and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a down payment on a second house. The neighborhood we are talking about is Clun. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two lenders and link together the transactions?
Do use our comparison tool on this page to be sure that the conveyancers are approved by both mortgage companies. Assuming that they are the solicitor should be able to tie up the two transactions but you should talk with you lawyer and specify your desired outcome and requirements.
Am I best advised to go with a Clun conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? An old friend can conduct the legal formalities however they are based 300kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a high street Clun conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and pester them if necessary. Having local Clun know how is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that must surpass using an unknown Clun conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.