My wife and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in Hinckley with a mortgage. We have a Hinckley lawyer, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or continue with our Hinckley conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Hinckley conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Please could you recommend a The Royal Bank of Scotland sanctioned Hinckley conveyancing firm who can have us moved in within 28 days? Am I best advised to unstruct a local Hinckley firm or a web based conveyancer?
We would be happy to suggest some excellent Hinckley conveyancing firms. You can also walk up the high street in Hinckley. Go in to two or three law practices and request to speak with a conveyancing solicitor for a costs illustration. Mention your deadline together with your reasons and ask for an assurance on your deadline. Choose the lawyer that appears most efficient.
I just bought a house at auction in Hinckley. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?
Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you now have to instruct a conveyancing practitioner soon as you now have a pending a fixed date to complete the property. An auction property should have a bespoke auction pack. This will include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold property the legal pack may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation specific to leasehold premises. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete on the on the contractual date .
I can not work out if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Hinckley building society branch on numerous occasions and was told it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My Hinckley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they refuse to lend based on their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the property lawyer is on the bank panel, they must adhere to the CML Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Hinckley. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £175. Not long after, the lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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 used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Hinckley. I now require my file but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Hinckley of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one close by in Hinckley I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Hinckley suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
My husband and I are new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, yet the agent informed us that the seller will only proceed if we appoint their chosen lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Hinckley
We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. If they want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your preferred Hinckley conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthe ones that will provide the estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by head office.