I am in the process of selling my flat in Towyn and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are swapping solicitor. The reason given is that the bank will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Towyn ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
My husband and I are refinancing our penthouse in Towyn with Coventry BS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Coventry BS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Coventry BS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Towyn. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in March. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in March. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. How practical a view banks take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement principally exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from Yorkshire BS as we wish to carry out improvements to our house in Towyn. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar Towyn solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Yorkshire BS don't usually appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Towyn. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £175. Soon after, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
Given that I am about to spend 450k on a property in Towyn I wish to talk to a conveyancer concerning thehouse move ahead of instructing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the conveyancer due to be conducting your conveyancing in Towyn.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique person, not a file reference. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in Towyn should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Towyn. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I inherited a leasehold flat in Towyn, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Towyn with over 90 years remaining are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2083
With just 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
I need to find a bank panel solicitor in Towyn. Can you assist?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Towyn panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to the bank to find out which solicitors in Towyn are on their panel . If you do find such a firm in Towyn not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site