We're in Newham, First time buyers buying with a mortgage (lender is TSB , and our solicitor is on the TSB conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
Can you help - my lawyer says that breach of easement insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Newham conveyancing?
The appropriate level of breach of easement indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Barclays and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Newham. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Lloyds have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is Lloyds your lawyer must follow the formal requirements contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Lloyds. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Lloyds where a lease fails to satisfy these requirements. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Newham.
Santander have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a house in Newham has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The property agent will want to be informed of your conveyancer's details (be sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s approved list). Contact Santander or your broker and finish off any relevant paperwork. Santander will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to book a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight to get a mortgage offer. Santander will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Newham.
five months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Newham concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. 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 premises 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.
I'm buying my first flat in Newham with a loan from Virgin Money. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Newham prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some lenders may not give a loan on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Newham. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Newham to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
My partner and I are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Newham. When we first instructed conveyancer, we were told they were on all major UK mortgage company panels. The financial adviser contacted us yesterday to say that they don't appear to be on the RBS approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Do we just choose a different property lawyer that is on their approved list or do we pay for dual representation, with RBS appointing their own approved lawyer.
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser’s solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a conveyancing practitioner has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the property lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the conveyancing practitioner has to satisfy. Some banks now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should call RBS 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 RBS's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Newham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another conveyancing practitioner into the equation.