I am acquiring a ground floor flat in Shooter's Hill. My Solicitor is not on the bank approved list. Can I still appoint my Shooter's Hill conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the mortgage company approved list?
You have a couple of options available to you here
- Complete the purchase with your chosen Shooter's Hill conveyancer but your bank will undoubtedly instruct a lawyer on their approved panel. The net result is additional fees and probable frustration.
- Choose a new solicitor to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your property lawyer to seek to join the bank panel
Do I need to visit the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Shooter's Hill so that I can attend their offices if required.
As opposed to 15 years ago, the vast majority mortgage companies no longer oblige their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the mortgagors signature. You will still be obliged to supply ID documents and there are still manifest advantages to instructing a locally based practitioner, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Shooter's Hill.
Does a directory service exist listing RBS panel conveyancers in Shooter's Hill on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of lending institutions make their panel listings viewable online. If you are seeking to appoint a Shooter's Hill lawyer on the RBS please use our tool.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Shooter's Hill. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me to say that they were not on the Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Shooter's Hill solicitor - who is on the UBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
UBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually UBS 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 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 Shooter's Hill postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with UBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Shooter's Hill.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Shooter's Hill?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Shooter's Hill. 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 have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one near me in Shooter's Hill I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Shooter's Hill suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
We are 14 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Shooter's Hill. I am not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
They would need to be really bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been sent? If so you will need to make them aware of the new solicitor and get the offer are issued to the new lawyers. The conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid added expenses and delays. So that should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a lender approved conveyancer for your home move in Shooter's Hill