Due to move into my new home in St James's next Friday. My solicitor now wants me to supply her with evidence of content and building insurance for the property as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?
Any lawyer on acting for banks would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. These requirements are not specific to conveyancing in St James's.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in St James's for our home move. Our financial adviser has since notified us that our mortgage lenders Clydesdale won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
A mortgage company may insist on an approved solicitor act for it. You would be liable to bear the charges for this. Do use our search facility to locate a solicitor to carry conveyancing in St James's on the Clydesdale member panel.
A friend pointed out to me me that in buying a property in St James's there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in St James's which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in St James's should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We had instructed solicitors located in St James's on the Santander solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental charge for dealing with the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Santander?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Santander but by your St James's property lawyer. Numerous firms on the Santander panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local St James's solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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 conveyancer 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 St James's postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in St James's.
How does conveyancing in St James's differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in St James's contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is built. This is because builders in St James's usually buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in St James's or who has acted in the same development.
Am I best advised to appoint a St James's conveyancing practitioner based in the area that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal work however her office is 200kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street St James's conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local St James's know how is a plus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and in the main were happy that should outweigh using an unknown St James's conveyancing solicitor just because they are St James's based.
My wife and I have recently had an offer accepted on a flat and had meeting on Wednesday with HSBC for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to appointing a conveyancer that unless they are on their approved panel of solicitors then we will have to pay out an extra charge of about two hundred pounds. This is because they will then have to instruct a solicitor to act on their behalf as well as the one we appoint on our behalf and we will be on the hook for their fees. I have requested HSBC to provide me with a list so I can obtain estimates only from their approved lawyers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a list online?
You should ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC historically. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with HSBC. Another option is to utilise our search facility and we may be able to locate a conveyancer in St James's on the approved list for HSBC.