Me and my partner are buying a 3 bedroom flat in Teddington with a mortgage. We like our Teddington conveyancer, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to use one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Teddington lawyer and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We regard this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
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 Teddington conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
It is a dozen years since I bought my house in Teddington. Conveyancing lawyers have now been appointed on the sale but I can't track down the deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they may be archived with the conveyancers who handled your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers procuring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Teddington relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
The Teddington conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my house acquisition in Teddington have suddenly closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and my family Teddington lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when purchasing a residence in Teddington? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that means some homeowners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for maintenance to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this appropriate for conveyancing in Teddington?
Unless a prior purchase of the house completed post 12 October 2013 you can take it that solicitors delivering conveyancing in Teddington to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Teddington in advance of retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can investigate further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Teddington. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Teddington especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Teddington.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing practitioner in Teddington for my home move. Can I check a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
Anyone can review documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions commenced on or after Jan 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors record, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor call for training purposes.