My partner and I are hoping to buy a property in Southwater and are in fact using a Southwater conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Yorkshire Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Southwater lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 Southwater solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We previously appointed conveyancing lawyers based in Southwater on the Nottingham solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental sum for dealing with the Nottingham mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Nottingham?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. This charge is not set by Nottingham but by your Southwater property lawyer. Some firms on the Nottingham panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
Can I be sure that the Southwater conveyancing solicitor on the Co-operative panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Southwater obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always advocate that you speak with the solicitor conducting your conveyancing.
I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in September 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Santander are being pedantic. The Southwater solicitor who is on the Santander conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Santander are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Santander have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Santander have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Santander 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.
A colleague suggested that where I am buying in Southwater I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Southwater conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Southwater around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Southwater Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Southwater Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Southwater.
The deeds to my house can not be found. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Southwater 5 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
As long as you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be documented by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to execute a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and order up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally retain a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Southwater in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to give a loan on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Southwater. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Southwater especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Southwater.
I am a fortnight into a leasehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the high street agent to execute conveyancing in Southwater. I am am very disappointed with the level of service. Can you help me find new conveyancers?
They would have to be very bad to suggest replacing them. Has your loan offer been generated? If so you need to inform them of the replacement solicitor and get the offer are re-issued. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental charges and complications. So that should be your first question of the new conveyancers. Our find a solicitor tool will help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Southwater