My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in Pentre and have appointed a Pentre conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Pentre solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Pentre solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We are about to exchange contracts for a leasehold flat in Pentre. We have hit a stumbling block. The loan offer with Accord Mortgages Ltd expires on 30/3/2026 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 1/4/2026. Is it possible to prolong the loan expiry date?
The person best placed to deal with your issue is your conveyancer who will assess if they should be discussing with the lender, vendor’s solicitors, estate agents or possibly all three taking into account the circumstances your house move to date.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Pentre for our home move. Our financial adviser informed us that our bank Barclays Direct won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
Mortgage Companies in the main restrict either the category or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their member panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few banks have reduced the number of solicitor practices they use to represent them. Be aware that Barclays Direct have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Barclays Direct Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago even though there remains differing opinions about the level of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Figures from the Land Registry indicate that plenty of law firms, including some in or near Pentre only conduct very few conveyances per annum.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Pentre. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Now that you have exchanged you should find a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you now have a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the property. All auction property will ordinarily have an associated legal set of papers. This will include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold property the legal pack should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation pertinent to a leasehold property. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Pentre conveyancer on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I can not fathom if my lender requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Pentre building society branch on numerous occasions and was advised it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Pentre conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their specific requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Provided that the conveyancer is on the bank approved list, she or he must comply with the CML Handbook specifications for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
My partner and I are selling our house in Pentre and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Pentre conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers used a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Pentre. We have lived in Pentre for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Pentre where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Pentre conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
I own a studio flat in Pentre, conveyancing having been completed 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Pentre with an extended lease are worth £192,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2080
With 54 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £32,300 and £37,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.