We were just about to sign contracts for a freehold house in Portishead. We encountered a problem. Our loan offer with Chelsea Building Society expires on 19/6/2026 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 23/6/2026. Is it possible to extend the mortgage offer?
The person best placed to deal with your concern is your conveyancer who will hopefully calculate whether they better off negotiating with the lender, seller’s solicitors, selling agents or conceivably all three based on what has happend in your house move to date.
I am selling my flat in Portishead. Does my property lawyer need to be on the Santander conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Santander conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.
There are numerous conveyancing solicitors in Portishead but how do I know who I should use?
Do not opt for the cheapest Portishead conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Portishead conveyancing solicitors have been selected. How long does it take for Santander to send the offer to the conveyancer?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander done the survey? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
Bank of Ireland have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a house in Portishead has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (make sure the solicitors are on the bank’s approved list). Call up Bank of Ireland or the broker and finalise any appropriate forms. Bank of Ireland will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or seller to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Bank of Ireland will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Portishead.
I am buying a property and the conveyancer has referenced Chancel Repair for which the property could be liable given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has recommended insurance. Is this strictly appropriate for conveyancing in Portishead
Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you may take it that solicitors handling conveyancing in Portishead to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Portishead. I now require my file however the law firm is no longer operating. 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 Portishead 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.
My son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the seller agreed the offer on the apartment we contacted the mortgage company to go forward with his. I was disappointed to hear that mortgage companies do not accept all conveyancer, they must be on their panel, is this right?
Mortgage Companies ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Portishead solicitor on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.