My fiance and I are looking to purchase a flat in Kendal and are in fact using a Kendal conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Kendal lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kendal solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My husband and I are purchasing a newly built apartment in Kendal and my lawyer is telling me that she is duty bound to the lender to disclose incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts and I don't want to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
I am the single beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Kendal. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the bank as this obligation chiefly exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Clydesdale as we wish to conduct alterations to our property in Kendal. Are we obliged to select a local Kendal solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Clydesdale don't usually appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Clydesdale panel.
I have a mortgage with Aldermore for my property in Kendal. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Aldermore?
Aldermore must be informed of your intention prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Aldermore directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel firm.
I completed on my house on 16 September and the transaction details is not yet on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Kendal advises it should be formalised in less than a month. Are transfers in Kendal uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Kendal registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can differ according to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any interested parties. At present roughly three quarters of such applications are fully addressed within 12 days but some can be subject to protracted delays. Historically registration occurs after the buyer has moved in to the premises therefore post completion formalities is not always an essential issue yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor could contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
As co-executor for the will of my father I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but reside in Kendal. My solicitor (approximately 250 miles awayneeds me to sign a stat dec prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Kendal who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are located in Kendal
I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mum’s Will, with a bungalow in Kendal which is to be sold. The house has never been registered at HMLR and I'm advised that some purchasers will insist that it is done before they will move forward. What's the procedure for this?
In the circumstances that you have set out it seems sensible to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.