My fiance and I are hoping to buy a flat in Gloucestershire and have instructed a Gloucestershire conveyancing practice. 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. Nationwide Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Gloucestershire solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Gloucestershire lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Would the conveyancing solicitors identified through your search tool execute auction conveyancing in Gloucestershire?
There are a few auction practitioners we can put you in touch with those specialising in auction conveyancing. Gloucestershire is just one of our areas of in which our lawyers are based.
Having sold my house in Gloucestershire last December but the buyer keeps telephoning daily complaining that her conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?
Following your disposal your solicitor is obliged to send the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Where appropriate, your conveyancer must also confirm that the home loan has been paid off to the purchasers conveyancers. There are no post completion formalities unique to conveyancing in Gloucestershire.
My colleague suggested that if I am buying in Gloucestershire I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Gloucestershire conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Gloucestershire around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Gloucestershire Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Gloucestershire.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Gloucestershire is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Gloucestershire are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Gloucestershire you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Gloucestershire may decide 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.
I am looking for a conveyancing practitioner in Gloucestershire for my home move. Is there any facility to check a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?
You can see published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could recorded telephone calls for training reasons.