I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Tring and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are changing their solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Tring ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms 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 purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
We see that you have a search directory listing law firms on the Santander conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Tring?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Santander conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Tring.
How can we tell if a Tring conveyancing solicitor on the Coventry BS panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Tring seeking recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor handling your transaction.
My partner and I have arranged the release of further funds on our home loan from TSB as we intend to carry out a loft conversion to our property in Tring. Are we obliged to appoint a high street Tring solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
TSB do not ordinarily appoint a member of their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the TSB panel.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Tring lawyer having checked that they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Tring postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Clydesdale, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Tring.
3 months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Tring completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Tring I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Tring for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
Taking into account that I am about to part with 450k on a garden flat in Tring I would like to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding theconveyancing in advance of appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
We could not agree more - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor due to be doing your conveyancing in Tring.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique individual, not a file number. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Tring should be the figure that you are charged.