My fiance and I are looking to acquire a flat in Olney and have appointed a Olney conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Nottingham Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Olney solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank 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 the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Olney lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a fairly new development (seven years old) in Olney. 95% of the flats are already disposed of. Do I need carry out the neighbourhood searches for my conveyancing in Olney?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage, your mortgage company will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Olney conveyancing searches are optional. Your lawyer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to swap to an alternative solicitor for your conveyancing in Olney.
When does exchange of contracts occur in purchase conveyancing in Olney and am I required to be at the conveyancers branch?
Where you are round the corner to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Olney you are welcome to come in to sign documents. However, the law practices we work with supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The executing of the purchase agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to address the formalities when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Olney)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Olney. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Yorkshire BS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Yorkshire BS your lawyer must comply with the conveyancing requirements set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Yorkshire BS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Yorkshire BS where a lease fails to comply with these provisions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Olney.
My husband and I are at the point of viewing apartments in Olney and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a mortgage with Skipton.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Skipton, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
The mortgage over my property is with Nottingham for my property in Olney. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nottingham?
Your original mortgage agreement with Nottingham will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nottingham will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel firm.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Olney. I now require my file however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Olney of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am selling my home. My former lawyers have shut. It would be helpful to have a recommendation of a conveyancing firm. Im based in Olney if that makes a difference.
You should use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in Olney. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with lender approved solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs smoothly.