My husband and I are planning to buy a property in Peterborough and have appointed a Peterborough conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Peterborough lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Peterborough solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We are soon to complete on the purchase of a house in Peterborough but as a consequence of damage from the recent storms I have managed to agree compensation from the owner of £3k by way of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of a side agreement but Barclays will not permit this. Should they have been approached?
Any conveyancing practitioner that is on a Barclays conveyancing panel is duty bound to advise Barclays of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your solicitor to notify the reduction to Barclays then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Barclays and you would have to appoint a new conveyancing practitioner for your conveyancing in Peterborough.
At what point does exchange of contracts take place for purchase conveyancing in Peterborough and do I need to attend the lawyers office?
Where you are local to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Peterborough you are invited in to sign the paperwork. That being said, 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 electronically. The executing of the purchase agreement is not the point of no return. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to address the formalities at the appropriate time, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a long "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Peterborough)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
When it comes to lenders such as Nottingham, do Peterborough solicitors have to pay a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Peterborough solicitor on the HSBC panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your HSBC 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 HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, 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 HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Peterborough. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Peterborough. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Peterborough
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Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
I am using a search engine for the words on line conveyancing in Peterborough it reveals numerous conveyancerslocally. How do I determine which is the right conveyancer for the sale of my house?
The ideal way of seeking the right conveyancer is through a trusted testimonial, so enquire of friends and relatives who have bought a property in Peterborough or a reputable estate agent or mortgage broker. Costs for conveyancing in Peterborough vary, so it's a good idea to request a minimum of three fee calculations from varying types of conveyancers. Dont forget to clarify what costs in the quote includes.