My husband and I are planning to buy a house in Filey and are in fact using a Filey conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Filey lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Filey solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am thinking of mortgaging my apartment in Filey, does my lawyer have to be on the Skipton Solicitor panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Skipton will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
I have paid off my mortgage with Aldermore. I assume I don't need a Filey conveyancing practitioner on the Aldermore panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Aldermore mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Aldermore mortgage from the register. Aldermore, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Aldermore has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Aldermore has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Intending to buy a flat in Filey. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Filey conveyancing practitioner is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.
Our offer on a semi in Filey has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on a flat, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Filey. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with Bank of Ireland started?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Filey conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should ensure that your conveyancer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of purchasers would apply for a home loan with Bank of Ireland and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their conveyancing practitioner to press on with searches.
Me and my brother purchased a terraced Victorian property in Filey. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Filey and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Filey is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Filey are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Filey you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Filey may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Is it possible to swap conveyancer as I have to appoint one who is on the Britannia conveyancing list. I was using a family conveyancing solicitor in Filey five minutes from me but she is not accepted by Britannia
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Filey on the Britannia panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we list do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Filey. In utilising search facility on this site, you can compare costs for conveyancing solicitors in Filey and beyond.