My husband and I are looking to acquire a house in Melton Mowbray and have instructed a Melton Mowbray conveyancing firm. 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. Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Melton Mowbray conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Melton Mowbray solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My husband and I wish to acquire a purpose built apartment in Melton Mowbray with a mortgage from Barclays .We have a Melton Mowbray conveyancing practitioner but Barclays informed us he's not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Barclays panel solicitor or retain our high street solicitor and pay for a Barclays panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you is subject to its various provisions, one of which will be that conveyancers must be on the Barclays approved list. Until recently, most banks 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays
When it comes to lenders such as Barclays, do Melton Mowbray conveyancers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any bank fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Melton Mowbray. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Nationwide have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nationwide. The CML Handbook sets out minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Nationwide where a lease fails to meet these provisions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Melton Mowbray.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Melton Mowbray. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Shortly after, the solicitor called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
How does conveyancing in Melton Mowbray differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Melton Mowbray approach us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because builders in Melton Mowbray typically acquire the land, 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 property lawyers 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 used to new build conveyancing in Melton Mowbray or who has acted in the same development.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one near me in Melton Mowbray I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Melton Mowbray for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan that many years may be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
My father has encouraged me to instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Melton Mowbray. Should I choose my own conveyancer?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Melton Mowbray conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the firm that you are are thinking of instructing.