My husband and I are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Watchet with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Watchet lawyer, however the lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or keep our Watchet conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; are we not able to insist that the bank use our Watchet solicitor ?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Watchet conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Can conveyancing in Watchet to be completed inside 3 weeks?
In the event that the seller is applying time constraints for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your lawyer is familiar with the area as they will have local contacts and insight. It is possible that they may have handled otherhomes in the same street. You would be best advised to use a Watchet conveyancing lawyer. Second, check that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is claimed that 18% of Watchet conveyancing deals are frustrated or jeopardised after finding out that a buyer’s solicitor was not on their banks list of approved solicitors. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal process being delayed by an average of 21 days. It is said that this issue impacts approximately 100,000 home sales annually. Almost all Watchet conveyancing practices can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Watchet costs more?
Watchet leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
We're in Watchet, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is Clydesdale , and our solicitor is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the primary cause of delay in Watchet house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Watchet.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Watchet?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Watchet. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’