I am selling my house in Duston and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are swapping solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Duston ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
AssumingI was to buy a freehold housein Duston for cash and have no survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Duston?
The sole reduction in fees you would achieve is the disbursement for searches. The lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, liaising with your sellers conveyancing practitioner, stamp duty return, register the ownership etc. A marginal saving might be made by not needing to register a mortgage but it won't be a lot.
My property lawyer in Duston is not listed on the Birmingham Midshires Approved Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Birmingham Midshires panel?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Carry on with your existing Duston solicitors but Birmingham Midshires will need to retain a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal fees as well as result in frustration.
- Get an alternative practitioner to act in the purchase, remembering to check they are Persuade your lawyer to do everything within their powers to join the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel
I'm buying a new build house in Duston with a loan from National Westminster Bank. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it could adversely affect my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 decided to have a survey done on a house in Duston ahead of appointing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not give a loan on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Duston. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Duston especially if they are familiar with such properties in Duston.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for sale conveyancing in Duston. I happened to land on a web site which appears to be the ideal solution If it is possible to get all the legals completed via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be concerned? 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?