I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Long Ashton and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Long Ashton ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms 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. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
My wife and I are refinancing our apartment in Long Ashton with Santander. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time buyer of a garden flat in Long Ashton. Do I collect the keys to the premises on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Long Ashton?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Long Ashton. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the seller's solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be called to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
My aunt advised me that in buying a property in Long Ashton there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Long Ashton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Long Ashton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I have paid off my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Long Ashton conveyancer on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham 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 Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, 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 Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
What can a local search tell me regarding the house I am buying in Long Ashton?
Long Ashton conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search is essential in every Long Ashton conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search will provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject areas.
How does conveyancing in Long Ashton differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Long Ashton approach us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is finished. This is because house builders in Long Ashton typically acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Long Ashton or who has acted in the same development.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am selling a residence in Monmouth but I am based in Long Ashton. My solicitor (who is 200 kilometers from merequires that I sign a stat dec prior to completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Long Ashton who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Long Ashton based