My husband and I are hoping to buy a property in Gloucestershire and have instructed a Gloucestershire conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Gloucestershire conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Gloucestershire solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
At what point can the exchange of contracts happen for purchase conveyancing in Gloucestershire and do I need to be at the lawyers branch?
Where you are in close proximity to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Gloucestershire you are welcome to attend to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend offer a national conveyancing service and give just as diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the sale agreement is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract simply enables the firm to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Gloucestershire)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
Having spent time researching online forums for a recommended solicitor in Gloucestershire, most comment that I should instruct a CQS accredited solicitor. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * adherence to best practice conveyancing procedures via the scheme protocol It includes many organisations who carry out conveyancing in Gloucestershire.
Will our solicitor be raising questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Gloucestershire.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Gloucestershire. Some people will buy a house in Gloucestershire, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be carried out by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can give them a better understanding of the risks in Gloucestershire. The standard information supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard inquiry of the owner to discover whether the premises has historically flooded. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the seller, then a buyer could issue a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate answer. The purchaser’s solicitors will also conduct an enviro report. This should higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be made.
3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Gloucestershire concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I'm buying a new build house in Gloucestershire with a loan from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about the deal as it would put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.