My partner and I are hoping to buy a flat in Upton and are in fact using a Upton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Upton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Upton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am considering applying for a Principality mortgage for purchase of a newly converted (under development) in Upton with 65 per cent LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Principality ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Principality conveyancing panel, but Principality would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
I am the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Upton. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in September. I want to move. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the house in September. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. Some banks would take a pragmatic view as this provision primarily exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Upton. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Barclays 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 Barclays your lawyer must comply with the conveyancing requirements contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Barclays. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Barclays where a lease does not meet these conditions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not isolated to Upton.
I have finally had an offer on an apartment in Upton accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on a property, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have chosen a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Upton. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Principality started?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Upton conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Concerning the next stages this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market many buyers will apply for a home loan with Principality and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their property lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Upton.
I understand that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when purchasing a house in Upton? or Apparently there is a law dating back centuries that means some owners of property living in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards repairs to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this relevant for conveyancing in Upton?
Unless a previous purchase of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you can assume that lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Upton to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
My husband and I are new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent told us that the vendor will only move forward if we use their recommended lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Upton
It is highly unlikely the owners are behind this. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is counter productive. Speak to the owners direct and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to use your preferred Upton conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide the negotiator at the agency a commission or meet his conveyancing thresholds pre-set by senior management.
To what extent are Upton conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to issue transparent conveyancing figures?
Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are specific rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have a practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Upton or beyond.