My partner and I are hoping to acquire a house in Crawley and are in fact using a Crawley conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Aldermore have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Crawley conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Crawley solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of stalling in Crawley house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Crawley.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Crawley?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Crawley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
How does conveyancing in Crawley differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Crawley contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because house builders in Crawley tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Crawley or who has acted in the same development.
Should I be wary about brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Crawley conveyancing practice?
As with many service providers, often referrals from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are numerous players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies may suggest conveyancers to select. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there might be a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to choose your own conveyancer. However, bear in mind that most mortgage providers specify a panel list of law firms you are obliged to use for the mortgage related work in your house move.
What are the differing property law services that Crawley conveyancing solicitors handle?
Almost all Crawley conveyancing firms will offer a number of services to residential and agricultural land owners, sellers, first time buyers, landlords and tenants such as:
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House sale conveyancing in Crawley or elsewhere in the country
Private residential purchase conveyancing in Crawley and beyond
Transferring equity to add or remove owners Buying and selling of garden land Assisted buying schemes - Help to Buy conveyancing Planning and boundary enquiries