I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in New Beckenham and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in New Beckenham ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in New Beckenham. I need to find out if they are on the Lloyds TSB Bank approved list of lawyers. Can you assist?
You should e-mail your lawyer and ask them whether they are on the lender panel. Otherwise you can call Lloyds TSB Bank who may be able to confirm.
I am helping my aunt sell her house in New Beckenham. Does the conveyancing solicitor arrange the energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to see to?
Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a compulsory part of selling a house. An EPC must be commissioned prior to the property being advertised. This is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a New Beckenham conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
A colleague informed me that in buying a property in New Beckenham there may be a number of restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in New Beckenham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in New Beckenham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I am aiming to move house in September. Does my conveyancing solicitor liaise with the removal company on the day of completion. As an aside, can you put forward a removal company in New Beckenham. Conveyancing lawyer was organised before I stumbled across your page.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to pick up the keys from the estate agent but this can only happen when the vendors conveyancers advise the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be collected. After that you can inform the removal company that they can start moving you in. We are not in a position to recommend a particular removal company but can assist you in finding a conveyancing in New Beckenham or a legal practice that specialises in conveyancing in New Beckenham.
A friend suggested that if I am buying in New Beckenham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your New Beckenham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about New Beckenham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about New Beckenham.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in New Beckenham?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in New Beckenham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
How does conveyancing in New Beckenham differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in New Beckenham contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because developers in New Beckenham tend to acquire the site, 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in New Beckenham or who has acted in the same development.