My fiance and I are looking to acquire a property in Sittingbourne and have instructed a Sittingbourne conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Sittingbourne conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Sittingbourne solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Sittingbourne?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Sittingbourne your solicitor will ask you put them with funds to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is called for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is as part of the total price then this should be required shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due will be payable a couple of days ahead of the completion date.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Sittingbourne. My lender is Tesco Bank
Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 19/1/2025, the requirements read as follows :
When it comes to lenders such as Clydesdale, do Sittingbourne solicitors have to pay an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Nationwide are being pedantic. The Sittingbourne solicitor who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Nationwide are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Nationwide have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nationwide have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nationwide 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 Sittingbourne property lawyer having made sure that they are on the RBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS 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 conveyancing practitioner 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 Sittingbourne postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with RBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Sittingbourne.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Sittingbourne is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Sittingbourne are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Sittingbourne you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Sittingbourne may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Sittingbourne. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Sittingbourne should include some of the following:
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You need to be advised what counts as a Nuisance in the lease Responsibility to repair and maintain the block. It is essential for you to know which party is responsible the repair and maintenance of all parts of the block and estate What options are available to the landlord where you breach a clause of your lease? Details of the parties to the lease, for instance these could be the tennant, head lessor, landlord Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
I inherited a leasehold flat in Sittingbourne, conveyancing having been completed in 1995. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Sittingbourne with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2100
With only 75 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.