My fiance and I are planning to acquire a flat in Midhurst and are in fact using a Midhurst conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Midhurst conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Midhurst solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My conveyancer has identified a a problem with the lease for the flat we are buying in Midhurst. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must ensure that the lender is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
My apartment in Midhurst is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will my lawyer have to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Yorkshire BS 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 requirements fairly frequently currently.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Midhurst before retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to issue a loan on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Midhurst. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Midhurst to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
How do I search for a Midhurst law firm on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel? I have a car and am willing to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the search on this page. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Midhurst conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Midhurst conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can telephone them to check if they are on the The Royal Bank of Scotland approved list
We have just had a bid accepted on our first house in Midhurst, and need to get solicitors lined up. We have utilised the various comparison tools and the results are from all across the the UK. Is it necessary to have a Midhurst conveyancer local to our prospective property? We are fine to do all the communicating over the web, but I guess at some point we may be required to visit the property lawyer's office to sign contracts?
There is no requirement to attend the office of your property lawyer, they can post any relevant papers to you, which you can sign and send back. Many buyers and sellers nevertheless opt to instruct a locally based solicitor, but it is not essential for conveyancing in Midhurst.