I am selling my home in Harringay and the EA has just called to say that the buyers are switching property lawyer. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Harringay ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. 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. Some 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.
I can see plenty of here about conveyancing in Harringay but can you isolate your top tip for finding the right conveyancer in Harringay
It would be unwise to be swayed by the cheapest Harringay conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of the deal.
My fiancee and I are in the process of viewing houses in Harringay and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a solicitor in place at this point? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Coventry BS.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Coventry BS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Harringay. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A few days later, the lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Kent Reliance panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Harringay?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Harringay. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I'm purchasing a new build house in Harringay with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it would affect my mortgage with the lender. 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.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Harringay ahead of appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to issue a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Harringay. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Harringay especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Harringay.
Should I stop my mortgage payments with Leeds Building Society as soon as a completion date for my home sale in Harringay has been set?
No, you must maintain meeting any mortgage sums to Leeds Building Society until the mortgage is redeemed from the proceeds of sale as part of your Harringay conveyancing.