My fiance and I are planning to buy a house in New Malden and are in fact using a New Malden conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Alliance & Leicester have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our New Malden lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred New Malden lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
As someone unfamiliar with the New Malden conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can impart for the house moving process in New Malden
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in New Malden or throughout South West London is often a confrontational process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the seller, estate agent and even potentially the mortgage company. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in New Malden is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose responsibility is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.
Every so often a potential adversary may attempt to convince you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the property agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your lawyer is slow. Or your financial adviser may tell you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
I am purchasing a house and the lawyer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair to which the house could be liable as it falls into the area of such a church. She has mentioned insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in New Malden
Unless a prior acquisition of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you can expect lawyers conducting conveyancing in New Malden to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in New Malden?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in New Malden. 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…’
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. New Malden is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in New Malden are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in New Malden you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in New Malden may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Taking into account that I am about to part with £400,000 on a garden flat in New Malden I would like to talk to a solicitor regarding thehome move ahead of giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
This is something that we recommend - we would be happy to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor who will be carrying out your property ownership legalities in New Malden.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important person, not a case reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are provided with for your conveyancing in New Malden should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.