My husband and I are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Nunhead with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Nunhead lawyer, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Nunhead property lawyer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We regard this is unjust; are we not able to insist that the lender use our Nunhead conveyancer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Nunhead conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
The property market in Nunhead is heating up. What can I do to expedite matters?
In the event that you are under a tight deadline for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your conveyancer is familiar with the location as they will have local relationships and knowledge. It is even conceivable that they could have conducted previoushouses in the same street. You would be best advised to use a Nunhead conveyancing firm. Second, check that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is believed that just under twenty per cent of Nunhead conveyancing deals are frustrated or derailed after discovering a purchaser’s solicitor was not on their banks member panel. This can often result in the home move being held up by an average of three weeks. It is said that this issue affects in the region of 100,000 home sales every year. Almost all Nunhead conveyancing firms can not represent certain banks so do check at the outset.
Should conveyancers request an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Nunhead?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Nunhead your lawyer will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is needed to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is as part of the sale price then this should be required shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due will be payable shortly before completion.
I am helping my mother sell her flat in Nunhead. Does the conveyancing solicitor order the energy performance certificate or it is for me to coordinate?
Following the demise of Home Information Packs, EPC’s remained a mandatory element of moving property. An energy performance certificate must be commissioned before the property is advertised. This is not as aspect of the sale process that lawyers normally organise. If you are instructing a Nunhead conveyancing lawyer they might be able to arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established Nunhead providers
When it comes to lenders such as Santander, do Nunhead solicitors have to pay a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Nunhead. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £175. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the UBS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the UBS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I have justdiscovered that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Nunhead for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to check if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Nunhead conveyancing specialists.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Nunhead is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Nunhead are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Nunhead you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Nunhead 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.