I am progressing with the sale of my home in Gants Hill and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Gants Hill ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. 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. Some 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. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
We note that you have a search directory listing law firms on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Gants Hill?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Gants Hill.
The Gants Hill conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my purchase in Gants Hill have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel and my previous Gants Hill lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Skipton conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
My partner and I are downsizing from our home in Gants Hill and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Gants Hill lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a nationwide conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Gants Hill. Having lived in Gants Hill for six years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
I own a renovated Georgian house in Gants Hill. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Gants Hill and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
How does conveyancing in Gants Hill differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Gants Hill contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because house builders in Gants Hill tend to acquire the site, 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 property lawyers 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 Gants Hill or who has acted in the same development.