We are hoping to purchase a 2 bedroom apartment in Llandough with a mortgage. We have a Llandough conveyancer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our Llandough conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the bank use our Llandough conveyancing practitioner ?
Unfortunately,no. 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 Llandough conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Llandough with Nationwide. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Nationwide. This is solely used to protect Nationwide if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Nationwide had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Having sold my house in Llandough last November but my buyer keeps calling daily to moan that his solicitor needs to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
After completion of your disposal your solicitor is obliged to forward the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer should also confirm that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers conveyancers. There are no post completion steps peculiar conveyancing in Llandough.
I am in the process of remortgaging my home in Llandough, does my lawyer need to be on the Nottingham Conveyancing panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Nottingham will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Llandough I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Llandough suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could 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 and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
My solicitors in Llandough have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with the bank. Is it case that being on the lender conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the mortgage company Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the bank directly.