My fiance and I are looking to buy a property in Old St Mellons and have instructed a Old St Mellons conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Old St Mellons lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 solicitor 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 and you may continue to use your own Old St Mellons solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I require conveyancing for a flat in a fairly new development (seven years old) in Old St Mellons. 95% of the appartments are already sold. Is it strictly necessary to order local searches for my conveyancing in Old St Mellons?
You would be taking a significant risk in refusing to carrying out Old St Mellons conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying without a mortgage there is no legal requirement to have them, but we would strongly advise in the strongest possible terms that you have them. Where accelerating the process and cost are primary concerns you should discuss with your solicitor about the possibility of search insurance
My wife and I have arranged the release of further funds on our mortgage from Yorkshire BS as we want to conduct alterations to our home in Old St Mellons. Are we obliged to choose a nearby Old St Mellons solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Yorkshire BS don't usually require firms on their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Old St Mellons off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Nationwide. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Nationwide, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Old St Mellons. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £150. A couple of days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.
My relative recommended that if I am buying in Old St Mellons I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Old St Mellons conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Old St Mellons around the property and the people living there. It incorporates 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 statistics, Old St Mellons Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Old St Mellons.
My brother has encouraged me to instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Old St Mellons. Should I use them?
No doubt the ideal way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to get referrals from friends or family who have experience in using the conveyancer that you are contemplating using.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the lender conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the mortgage company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.