My wife and I are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Stoke Newington with a mortgage. We like our Stoke Newington lawyer, 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 firms or continue with our Stoke Newington conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the bank use our Stoke Newington property lawyer ?
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 Stoke Newington conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Stoke Newington for our home move. Our broker has since notified us that our mortgage lenders Clydesdale won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
Before the recession most banks had a different appetite for risk. Almost all Stoke Newington conveyancing firms would have been on many bank panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 completed a thematic investigation into mortgage fraud which concluded: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, mortgage companies are increasingly seeing more data from law firms regarding their operations and their employees and establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum number of transactions. Many Stoke Newington conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have Unblemished track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Stoke Newington is amongst the many locations where the lawyers showing on our search results are are authorised to act for Clydesdale.
I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Stoke Newington conveyancing practitioner on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Coventry BS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Stoke Newington has been accepted, what are the next steps?
The estate agent will need to be informed of your conveyancing practitioner's details (ensure that the solicitors are on the lender’s approved list). Call up Coventry BS or your broker and complete any relevant documentation. Coventry BS will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to arrange a time for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days to receive the mortgage offer. Coventry BS will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Stoke Newington.
After what seems like an age I have had an offer on a flat in Stoke Newington accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on a flat, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Stoke Newington. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with Santander started?
It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Stoke Newington conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your lawyer is on the Santander approved list. Concerning the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some purchasers will apply for the mortgage with Santander and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their lawyer to press on with searches.
What will a local search tell me about the property I am buying in Stoke Newington?
Stoke Newington conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for example Searches UK The local search is essential in every Stoke Newington conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.
I am buying my first flat in Stoke Newington with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about this deal as it could adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML 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.
For various reasons I cannot get to my Stoke Newington conveyancing practitioners office to sign documents connected to my conveyancing in Stoke Newington – is this a problem?
Not a problem. Stoke Newington conveyancing solicitors can deal with home moves for clients nationwide. It is not necessary for you to be able to be present a Stoke Newington conveyancers office. Almost all conveyancer can deal with all communications via post, email, telephone and fax.