Me and my fiance are purchasing a 1 bedroom flat in Old Stratford with a mortgage. We like our Old Stratford lawyer, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our Old Stratford property lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you 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. Another option that might be available is for your Old Stratford conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the Skipton Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Old Stratford?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
I am helping my niece sell her house in Old Stratford. Will the conveyancer commission the energy assessment or should I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a compulsory part of selling a property. An energy performance certificate needs to be to hand in advance of the property being advertised. It is not a task that law firms normally organise. Where you are using a Old Stratford conveyancing solicitor they might be able to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with reputable local assessors
My wife and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Kent Reliance as we wish to carry out improvements to our home in Old Stratford. Do we need to appoint a bricks and mortar Old Stratford solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Kent Reliance do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.
After what seems like an age I have had an offer on an apartment in Old Stratford agreed to, the vendors do however have a dependent purchase. The sellers have put an offer on a property, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other properties booked. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Old Stratford. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with HSBC started?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Old Stratford conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must check that your solicitor is on the HSBC approved list. As to the subsequent steps this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market some buyers would apply for the mortgage with HSBC and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their solicitor to proceed with the conveyancing in Old Stratford.
I have recentlyfound out that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Old Stratford for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to check if the property is in your name, 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 Old Stratford conveyancing specialists.
I am purchasing my first flat in Old Stratford benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it could impact my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
A conveyancing firm acted on my conveyancing in Old Stratford 5 years past having archived my deeds but has now closed – how do I retreive them?
Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Old Stratford are archived electronically at Land Registry. Should you need to show evidence of proprietorship or are disposing of or refinancing your lawyer should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.