I am not in a position to travel far from Lee. What is the rationale as to why all Lee lawyers are not on all lender panels?
As inequitable as it may appear for mortgage companies to limit who can represent them, from the public’s or lawyer’s point of view, the flip side is that lending institutions are becoming ever more anxious and feel it essential to protect them from mortgage fraud. As a result of this concern lenders have restricted their panel of approved conveyancing lawyers to a size that they are happy to control.
I require conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (seven years built) in Lee. 95% of the properties have already been sold. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in Lee?
Where you are obtaining a loan, your bank will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Lee conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will ’encourage’, perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she is duty bound in this regard. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you may need to instruct a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Lee.
I am considering applying for a Nationwide mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Lee with 65 per cent LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Nationwide ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel, but Nationwide would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Lee what would it be?
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Lee conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a 1st time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Lee. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Lee?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be called to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in December 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Co-operative are being a right pain. The Lee solicitor who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Co-operative are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Co-operative have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Co-operative have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Co-operative may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
A friend advised me that if I am purchasing in Lee I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Lee conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Lee around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Lee Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Lee.
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Lee. I now require my file but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Lee of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.