We are planning to purchase a 2 bedroom apartment in Stanwick with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Stanwick conveyancer, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or retain our Stanwick conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to require that the bank use our Stanwick conveyancing practitioner ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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. Another option that might be available is for your Stanwick conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
I am purchasing a newly built apartment in Stanwick and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the developer. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange contracts and I have no desire to prolong deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My Conveyancer in Stanwick has never been on on the Santander Solicitor Panel. Can I still continue with my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Santander list of approved lawyers?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Stanwick lawyers but Santander will need to use a solicitor on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the overall conveyancing fees and cause frustration.
- Find a new practitioner to act in the purchase, not forgetting to check they are Santander approved.
- Try to convince your Santander solicitor to try to join the Santander panel
My husband and I are FTB’s - had an offer accepted, but the agent told us that the owners will only proceed if we use their preferred lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a family solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Stanwick
It is highly unlikely the owners are driving this. Should the seller want ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated purchaser is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to appoint your own,trusted Stanwick conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by corporate headquarters.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stanwick with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stanwick can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers’ conveyancers. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Stanwick leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance. Some Stanwick leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Stanwick conveyancing deal. Where a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
Stanwick Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing
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Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Stanwick obliged tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments?
Can you please explain what my options are where my Stanwick conveyancing searches shows adverse entries?
Ordinarily, most concerns disclosed in Stanwick conveyancing search responses can be dealt with prior to completion or title insurance may be put in place. You should note that even though you intend on purchasing the premises and may be content to live with the search results, your lender may not, and when all said and done have the final decision.