I am six weeks into the sale of my house in Hyde Park and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named mortgage company only work with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Hyde Park ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Do all mortgage companies provide you with an approved list of Hyde Park conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel?
Hyde Park conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Nationwide directly.
My Conveyancer in Hyde Park has never been on on the Barclays Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to use my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Barclays panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Carry on with your existing Hyde Park solicitors but Barclays will need to use a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional overall legal charges as well as cause frustration.
- Get a new solicitor to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Barclays approved.
- Persuade your Barclays based solicitor to try to join the Barclays panel
We are getting the release of further monies on our mortgage from UBS as we wish to carry out alterations to our house in Hyde Park. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Hyde Park solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
UBS don't usually instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the UBS panel.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Hyde Park lawyer on the Coventry BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I can not work out if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my Hyde Park building society branch on a couple of occasions and was advised it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Hyde Park conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
As long as the lawyer is on the mortgage company panel, she or he must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the lender. 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 remaining.
Is it necessary to take out insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when purchasing a house in Hyde Park?
Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you could assume that conveyancing practitioners handling conveyancing in Hyde Park to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the property agent has warned us that the vendor will only proceed if we appoint the agent's chosen lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a family conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Hyde Park
It is highly unlikely the sellers are driving this. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted Hyde Park conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing figures set by senior management.