Me and my fiance are hoping to acquire a 2 bedroom flat in St Johns with a mortgage. We have a St Johns lawyer, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or retain our St Johns property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We regard this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your St Johns conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We are planning to purchase with Darlington Building Society. I popped in 3 or 4 local companies but cant to find a St Johns conveyancing firm on the Darlington Building Society approved list. Please you help?
You should take advantage of the search tool on this page. Pick the building society and type St Johns or your preferred area and you will discover a number of lawyer located in St Johns or nearest you.
This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as FTB of a two bedroom flat in St Johns. Do I receive the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in St Johns?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in St Johns. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the seller's solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to pick up the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
Is it the case that all St Johns conveyancing solicitors on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.
Kent Reliance have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in St Johns has been agreed to, now what?
The estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancers are on the lender’s panel). Contact Kent Reliance or your broker and complete any outstanding paperwork. Kent Reliance will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or owners to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days to get a mortgage offer. Kent Reliance will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in St Johns.
I am buying my first flat in St Johns with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my solicitor about the side-deal as it will impact my loan with National Westminster Bank. Is this normal?.
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 UK Finance website. UK Finance 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.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in St Johns prior to retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks will not grant a loan on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in St Johns. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I am looking for a conveyancing solicitor in St Johns for my house move. Is there any facility to review a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
Members of the public can read published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations stemming from investigations started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may recorded telephone calls for training reasons.