I am not in a position to travel far from Victoria. Please clarify why all Victoria solicitors are not on all lender panels?
Even though it may seem unfair for mortgage companies to restrict who can represent them, from the public’s or solicitor’s perspective, the flip side is that banks are increasingly anxious and feel it necessary to protect them from mortgage fraud. As a result of this concern lenders are limiting their panel of approved conveyancing lawyers to a manageable size.
Is it possible for conveyancing in Victoria to be completed in less than 28 days?
First, If the seller is applying a tight deadline for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your conveyancer is familiar with the area as they will make use of local contacts and knowledge. It is even conceivable that they may have transacted previoushouses in the same street. You would be best advised to use a Victoria conveyancing lawyer. Second, make sure that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is claimed that nearly one in five of Victoria conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after finding out that a purchaser’s lawyer was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the home move being held up by as much as three weeks. It is estimated that this issue impacts in the region of one hundred thousand home moves annually. Many Victoria conveyancing firms can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.
Is it the case that all Victoria CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Skipton conveyancing list of approved practices?
It is true that some banks and building societies now utilise CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
When it comes to lenders such as Principality, do Victoria conveyancing practitioners have to pay an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Victoria. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. Soon after, the lawyer called me to say 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.
What can a local search inform me regarding the house my wife and I purchasing in Victoria?
Victoria conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Xpress Legal The local search plays a central part in most Victoria conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic headings.
How does conveyancing in Victoria differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Victoria contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is constructed. This is because builders in Victoria typically buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Victoria or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one close by in Victoria I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Victoria suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.