My wife and I are looking to purchase a home in Romiley and have appointed a Romiley conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Romiley conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Romiley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I just bought a property at auction in Romiley. Conveyancing is required. What is next?
Given that you are now exchanged you must hire the services of a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the transaction. Every auction property will have a corresponding legal set of papers. This will include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold premises the auction papers should contain 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 the solicitor working for you as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
Does a directory service exist listing Lloyds panel solicitors in Romiley on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of banks make their panel listings viewable on the web. Where you are seeking to appoint a Romiley lawyer on the Lloyds please use our facility.
I am buying a property in Romiley. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Nottingham have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is Nottingham your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nottingham. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Nottingham where a lease does not comply with these provisions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Romiley.
I need some quick conveyancing in Romiley as I am under an ultimatum to complete within one month. Thankfully I do not need a mortgage. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are not obtaining a mortgage you have the choice not to have searches carried out although no solicitor would recommend that you don't. With plenty of history conveyancing in Romiley the following are instances of issues that can appear and adversely impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Romiley?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Romiley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I'm buying my first flat in Romiley benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it would put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Romiley ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders may not issue a mortgage on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Romiley. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Romiley especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Romiley.