My husband and I are planning to acquire a 2 bedroom apartment in Ratcliff with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Ratcliff solicitor, but the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to use one of the lender panel firms or continue with our Ratcliff lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
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 lender’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 Ratcliff conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the UBS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Ratcliff?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Ratcliff. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Kent Reliance are being difficult. The Ratcliff solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Kent Reliance are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Ratcliff conveyancer having checked that they are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Ratcliff postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Ratcliff.
Me and my brother have a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Ratcliff. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. Is it worth asking Birmingham Midshires to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Ratcliff and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.
I am 18 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to execute conveyancing in Ratcliff. We are not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
They would need to be very poor to suggest diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been sent? If so you need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and have the offer are re-sent. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks panel to avoid added fees and complications. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. The search tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Ratcliff
Fiveweeks into purchasing a property in Ratcliff. Conveyancing solicitor has called to say the property is "Leasehold". Will this likely impact the marketability of the property?
Ratcliff conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The main factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's virtually freehold, so it shouldn't impact the saleability too much.
At the other extreme, if it's, say, fifty five years it will have a material impact on the saleability, and most likely wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The length of lease and ground rent will be specified in the lease to be supplied to your solicitor.