I plan on acquiring a leasehold flat in Towcester. My Conveyancer has never been on on the bank conveyancing list. Am I still permitted to continue with my Towcester conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company panel?
You have a number of options open to you here
- Complete the purchase with your existing Towcester conveyancing practitioner but your lender will no doubt instruct a property lawyer on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional cost together with likely frustration.
- Get a new solicitor to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancer to pull out all the stops to get listed on the bank’s panel of solicitors
We are planning to acquire a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Towcester who is on the Principality solicitor panel. Can you recommend a local solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Principality . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Towcester.
My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Towcester. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Clydesdale, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Clydesdale will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Clydesdale mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
We previously appointed conveyancing lawyers with offices in Towcester on the Bank of Ireland solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional fee for dealing with the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Bank of Ireland?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Bank of Ireland but by your Towcester conveyancer. Some firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many firms include it on their overall fee.
I am buying a property in Towcester. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. UBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is UBS your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to UBS where a lease does not satisfy these specifications. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not restricted to Towcester.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Towcester. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My wife and I own a semi-detached Victorian property in Towcester. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Britannia. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Towcester and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I am buying my first flat in Towcester with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative told me not inform my conveyancer about this deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.