My fiance and I are looking to purchase a house in Colliers Wood and have instructed a Colliers Wood conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Coventry Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Colliers Wood conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Colliers Wood solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We were just about to sign contracts for a ground floor flat in Colliers Wood. We have hit a problem. Our mortgage offer with Alliance & Leicester expires on 23/3/2026 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 25/3/2026. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to address this question is your conveyancer who should calculate if they corresponding with the mortgage broker, owner’s lawyers, selling agents or indeed all three given the circumstances your transaction as of today.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Colliers Wood. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Colliers Wood?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will transfer the purchase money to the seller's solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
I am expecting a DIP from Leeds Building Society this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Leeds Building Society recommend any Colliers Wood solicitors on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?
You will need to appoint Colliers Wood solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Leeds Building Society through the process.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Colliers Wood. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an on account payment of £225. Shortly after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me to say that they were not on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
I am purchasing a new build house in Colliers Wood with a loan from Halifax. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not disclose to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it could put at risk my loan with Halifax. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for freehold conveyancing in Colliers Wood. I have stumble upon a web site which appears to be the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all the legals done via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Colliers Wood. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently received a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as usual as all ground rent and maintenance payments will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Colliers Wood conveyancing firm to assist?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Colliers Wood conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Colliers Wood property is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 62.94 years.