Me and my partner are buying a flat in Mortlake. My Conveyancer is not on the bank solicitor panel. Can I still continue with my Mortlake conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the mortgage company approved list?
One will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner to deal with the formalities when you require a loan to buy your property. The conveyancer will carry out all the relevant due diligence on the property, ensuring that you will be registered as proprietor and ensure that all the necessary mortgage paperwork is dealt with. You could select a Mortlake solicitor of your choice. However, if the lawyer selected is not a member of the lender conveyancing panel supplemental charges will arise as separate legal representation will be required by them. Lender panel applications may be submitted, so if your conveyancer has not previously sought membership they can do so.
My home in Mortlake is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Does my solicitor need to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Aldermore 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 in recent years.
Will our conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Mortlake.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Mortlake. Plenty of people will purchase a house in Mortlake, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better appreciation of the risks in Mortlake. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the seller to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading reply. The purchaser’s solicitors will also commission an environmental report. This will reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be initiated.
How does conveyancing in Mortlake differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Mortlake contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because builders in Mortlake usually buy 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 Mortlake or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Mortlake prior to retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Mortlake. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Mortlake especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Mortlake.
Myself and my fiance have just had an offer agreed on a property and had an appointment on Wednesday with the Post Office for the mortgage. They advised me that when it comes to selecting a conveyancing practitioner that if they are not on their approved list of conveyancers then we will have to pay out a further charge of about two hundred pounds. This is is due to the fact that they will then have to appoint a solicitor to act for them as well as the one we choose to act for ourselves and we will be on the hook for their costs. I have requested the Post Office to furnish me with a list so I can seek quotes only from their approved lawyers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. What would be the best way of going about this?
You should ask the Post Office what their criteria for panel membership is for a conveyancer.Then ask the solicitor of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on mortgages for the Post Office historically. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with the Post Office. Another option is to use our search tool and we should be able to identify a conveyancer in Mortlake on the panel for the Post Office.