My fiance and I are hoping to buy a property in St Paul's Cray and have appointed a St Paul's Cray conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our St Paul's Cray lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own St Paul's Cray solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in St Paul's Cray costs more?
St Paul's Cray leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving applicable notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
I am buying a semi-detached house in St Paul's Cray. Can I do my own conveyancing?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in St Paul's Cray you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in St Paul's Cray.
I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in St Paul's Cray I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in St Paul's Cray for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Is it possible to swap firm as I have to instruct a firm on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. I had appointed a high street conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by The Royal Bank of Scotland
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we work with do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are authorised and regulated by the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in St Paul's Cray. Using search facility on this page, you can scrutinise costs for conveyancing solicitors in St Paul's Cray and beyond.
Why can't I complete our conveyancing in St Paul's Cray on Good Friday?
This is due to the fact that on completion the funds needs to be transferred electronically between the banks of the purchaser and seller's lawyer and at present this can only take place on a business day. So you can't complete on a saturday or sunday either.