My partner and I are planning to acquire a house in Lancing and are in fact using a Lancing conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Lancing conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Lancing lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are purchasing a 3 bedroom semi in Lancing. The intention is to an extension at the rear at the house.Will the conveyancing process involve enquiries to determine if these alterations were previously refused?
Your property lawyer should review the deeds as conveyancing in Lancing can occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which restrict certain alterations or require the permission of a 3rd party. Some extensions require local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
When it comes to lenders such as Bank of Ireland, do Lancing property lawyers have to pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Is it the case that all Lancing solicitors on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Clydesdale approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the firms would be regulated by the CLC.
Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal impending roadworks that could impact a commercial land in Lancing?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Lancing will perform a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Lancing. The report provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Lancing.
For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Lancing it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to Lancing commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not ordered for domestic conveyancing in Lancing.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in Lancing before appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks will not give a loan on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Lancing. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Lancing to find a solicitor on your site. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your services over another?
We don’t make any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a property in Neath but I am based in Lancing. My conveyancer (who is 235 miles from meneeds me to sign a stat dec ahead of completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Lancing to witness and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you should not need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Lancing