My husband and I are planning to buy a home in Martock and are in fact using a Martock conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Martock solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 property lawyer should contact your lender 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Martock solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our nephew is purchasing a newly built flat in Martock with a home loan from Co-operative. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
My house in Martock is up for sale and I have a purchaser. Will my lawyer have to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently currently.
Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are a common cause of stalling in Martock conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Martock.
I am buying a new build house in Martock with a mortgage from Clydesdale. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about the extras as it may jeopardize my loan with Clydesdale. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
How can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my commercial offices in Martock and how can your lawyers assist?
The 1954 Act gives protection to commercial tenants, granting the a statutory right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds where a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are involved. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing solicitors who use the act to your advantage and handle your commercial conveyancing in Martock