We are hoping to acquire a 3 bedroom apartment in Rhiwbina with a mortgage. We like our Rhiwbina lawyer, however the bank advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to use one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Rhiwbina conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to demand that the lender use our Rhiwbina solicitor ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer 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. A further alternative is for your Rhiwbina conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
I am assisting my aunt sell her flat in Rhiwbina. Does the solicitor commission an energy assessment or it is for the owner to see to?
After the demise of Home Information Packs, EPC’s was left as a compulsory part of selling a property. An EPC should be commissioned prior to the property being marketed. It is not something that solicitors normally organise. Where you are using a Rhiwbina conveyancing practitioner they might help arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
We had appointed conveyancing lawyers located in Rhiwbina on the Kent Reliance solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional amount for dealing with the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Kent Reliance but by your Rhiwbina conveyancer. Some firms on the Kent Reliance panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.
The mortgage over my property is with Barclays for my property in Rhiwbina. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Barclays?
Barclays must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Barclays’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Barclays will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Barclays directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am purchasing my first flat in Rhiwbina benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it could affect my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Rhiwbina before appointing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders will not grant a loan on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Rhiwbina. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I was advised by a couple of local selling agents in Rhiwbina to get a quote from a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to market your site over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t give any commission for sending work our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
What makes a Rhiwbina lease unmortgageable?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Rhiwbina. Most leases are drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
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Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Rhiwbina - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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Are there any major works in the near future that will add a premium to the service charges? Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?