My wife and I are looking to buy a flat in West Green and have appointed a West Green conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Skipton Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our West Green conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred West Green lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Can your site be used to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in West Green even where I’m not buying or selling a house, for example if I intend to buy an office in West Green with a mortgage from Aldermore?
Our search tool is mainly utilised to select domestic conveyancing solicitors in West Green but we have listed at the bottom of this page a selection of West Green commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to enquire with the company directly to check if they are also authorised to represent Aldermore
I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to instruct their panel lawyer as I would prefer to use a West Green based conveyancing firm?
You should check but the the probability is that appoint one of their panel conveyancers should you want the "fee-free" deal. Call the mortgage company to explore if they offer you a monetary alternative. In the past a few lenders offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in West Green.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in West Green. I have a mortgage offer with Co-operative. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Co-operative, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
I currently have a mortgage with Barclays for my property in West Green. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Barclays?
Your original mortgage agreement with Barclays will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Barclays’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Barclays directly. You need not do this via a Barclays conveyancing panel lawyer.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local West Green solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own West Green surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Is it possible to switch solicitor as I need to instruct one who is on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd conveyancing list. I hired a family conveyancing solicitor in West Green round the corner but she is not approved by Godiva Mortgages Ltd
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in West Green on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd panel. Please note that the solicitors that we work with do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are registered with the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in West Green. In making use of search facility on this page, you can compare fees for conveyancing solicitors in West Green and beyond.
How do I search for a West Green conveyancing solicitor on the bank conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20kilometers to attend the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel search on this page. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case West Green and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest West Green. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the bank solicitor panel.