My wife and I are planning to buy a flat in Walworth and have instructed a Walworth conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Walworth conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Walworth solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We see that you have a post code search directory identifying firms on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our own conveyancing in Walworth?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Walworth.
What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Walworth
There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Walworth and Solicitor firms in Walworth to choose from It is important to make clear that the two are regulated professionals specialising in the legal aspects of transferring property. They may both also deal with associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.
We previously chose conveyancing lawyers located in Walworth on the Santander solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Santander?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your property lawyer may charge a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Santander but by your Walworth property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
My wife and I are at the point of looking at flats in Walworth and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a lawyer in place at this stage? I will be getting a mortgage with Nottingham.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the EA. Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Nottingham, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
My colleague advised me that where I am purchasing in Walworth I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Walworth conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Walworth around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Walworth Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Walworth Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Walworth.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Walworth is the location of the property. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Walworth are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Walworth you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Walworth may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
As co-executor for the estate of my uncle I am selling a property in Newport but reside in Walworth. My solicitor (who is 235 kilometers awayrequires that I sign a stat dec before completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Walworth to witness this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Walworth