My wife and I are hoping to buy a house in Stone Cross and have appointed a Stone Cross conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Stone Cross conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Stone Cross lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Completed the sale of my flat in Stone Cross last February yet the purchaser is e-mailing every few hours to moan that his lawyer is waiting to hear from myconveyancer. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
Post completion of your sale your lawyer should deliver the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Where relevant, your lawyer should also evidence that the home loan has been redeemed to the purchasers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks just for conveyancing in Stone Cross.
What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Stone Cross
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Stone Cross conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of the deal.
We are purchasing a terrace house in Stone Cross. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will the conveyancing process involve checks to see if these works were previously refused?
Your property lawyer should review the deeds as conveyancing in Stone Cross will occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain changes or require the permission of another owner. Some extensions need local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be prudent to check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.
Is it correct that all Stone Cross CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Lloyds conveyancing list of approved firms?
Some major banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
My relative recommended that if I am purchasing in Stone Cross I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Stone Cross conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Stone Cross around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Stone Cross Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Stone Cross.
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Stone Cross. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Stone Cross of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Stone Cross is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Stone Cross are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Stone Cross you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Stone Cross may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.