I am 3 weeks into the sale of my house in Grappenhall and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Grappenhall ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal 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 do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
We had instructed solicitors based in Grappenhall on the Clydesdale solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for handling the Clydesdale mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Clydesdale?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your lawyer may charge a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Clydesdale but by your Grappenhall conveyancer. Some firms on the Clydesdale panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Grappenhall. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Grappenhall property lawyer having made sure that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Grappenhall postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Grappenhall.
I am downsizing from our house in Grappenhall and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Grappenhall conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed a national conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Grappenhall. We have lived in Grappenhall for many years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with 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 ailment)
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Grappenhall. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Lloyds TSB Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
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 Grappenhall and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Grappenhall with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
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.
Can you shed any light on the spectrum of conveyancing conducted by Grappenhall conveyancing firms?
Most Grappenhall conveyancing practices tend to provide various assistance to home and land proprietors, vendors, buyers, freeholders and tenants such as:
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Domestic sale conveyancing in Grappenhall and nationwide
Property purchase conveyancing in Grappenhall and further afield
Grant and Assignment of Leases Property division, resulting from divorce or breakdown of a relationship Shared ownership and shared equity scheme Estate Conveyancing