My partner and I are looking to buy a home in Cringleford and have appointed a Cringleford conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Skipton Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Cringleford solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional 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 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 Cringleford solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Cringleford for our house move. Our financial adviser has since notified us that our bank Santander won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
Before the recession most banks had a different appetite for risk. Almost all Cringleford conveyancing firms would have been on many bank panels. The financial services regulator in 2010 completed a thematic investigation into mortgage fraud which concluded: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders have regularly sought more information from law firms about their operations and the individuals who work for them as well as set certain criteria such a completing on a minimum number of transactions. Many Cringleford conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have Unblemished track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Cringleford is one of the hundreds of locations where the lawyers showing on our search results are are approved Santander.
There are a variety of conveyancing solicitors in Cringleford but how do I know who's good?
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Cringleford conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.
I have been told by my lawyer that absentee landlord insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Cringleford conveyancing?
The right level of absentee landlord indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between HSBC Bank and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Cringleford. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting 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.
A relative advised me that if I am buying in Cringleford I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Cringleford conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Cringleford around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Cringleford Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Cringleford Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Cringleford.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Cringleford?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Cringleford. 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…’
I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Cringleford for my home move. Is it possible to see a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?
Anyone can review documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions started on or after Jan 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For records Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor telephone calls for training purposes.