Me and my partner are hoping to purchase a 1 bedroom flat in Oxshott with a mortgage. We have a Oxshott solicitor, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to select one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or keep our Oxshott solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We consider that this is inequitable; can we not insist that the lender use our Oxshott property lawyer ?
No, not really. 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 Oxshott conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Oxshott costs more?
Oxshott leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
We're in Oxshott, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Coventry BS , and our solicitor is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no lawyer 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.
I happen to be the sole beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Oxshott. The Oxshott property was put into my name in July. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in July. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this obligation is chiefly there to capture subsales or the flipping of property.
Is it the case that all Oxshott solicitor practices on the Santander conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Santander approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Oxshott conveyancer on the Co-operative panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Co-operative mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am purchasing my first flat in Oxshott with a mortgage from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my lawyer about the extras as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
I was recommended by numerous property agents in Oxshott to select a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers rather than a competitor’s?
We refuse to offer any financial incentive for directing people our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.