My wife and I are hoping to purchase a house in Hightown and have appointed a Hightown conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hightown conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Hightown 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 that you recommend conduct conveyancing in Hightown by way of an attended exchange?
We do have a number of conveyancing specialists who can conduct attended exchanges. You should e-mail us to obtain a costs illustration and details as to dates.
is it true that all Hightown conveyancing solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Kent Reliance approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Hightown off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with RBS. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with RBS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Hightown. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £150. A few days later, the solicitor called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
I am intent on selling our property in Hightown and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed an online conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Hightown. Having lived in Hightown for three years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You must 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)
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Hightown is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can give?
Flying freeholds in Hightown are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Hightown you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hightown 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 property.
At long last our conveyancing in Hightown completes next Friday, however the vendors I am purchasing from wants to vacate the next day at midday. Should I agree to such a idea?
If you require a mortgage then your property lawyer will require that the property isvacant on Friday - the lending institution will compel it.