My partner and I are looking to purchase a home in Millbank and are in fact using a Millbank conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Bank of Ireland have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Millbank conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Millbank solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My flat in Millbank is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will the property lawyer have to be required to be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Clydesdale 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 at the moment.
It has been 3 months since my purchase conveyancing in Millbank completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Millbank ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks tend not grant a loan on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. If you contact us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Millbank. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Millbank especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Millbank.
My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent has warned us that the owners will only go ahead if we instruct the agent's chosen conveyancers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a family solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Millbank
It is improbable the vendors are behind this. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Speak to the owners direct and make sure they understand (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to appoint your preferred Millbank conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthose that will give their negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by HQ.
New build sellers have suggested I use a property lawyer and I've obtained a quote from them. They are nearly £400 cheaper than my family Millbank conveyancing practitioner. Should I use them?
Developers frequently have panels of property lawyers who expedite matters and who know the developer’s documentation and property lawyer. Plenty of developers offer an inducement to use a preferred conveyancing practitioner for this reason, any increased charges can be avoided and a developer will not put forward a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the transaction delayed when they require an exchange within a tight time frame. A counter-argument for not opting for the suggested solicitor is that they may be reluctant to fight for your interests at the risk of alienating the sellers. Where you have concerns that this may be the situation you should stick with your high street Millbank conveyancing practitioner.