I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in West Wickham for our home move. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage lenders Barclays won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
Banks ordinarily restrict either the type or the volume of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the profile of firm, some have limited the number of solicitor practices they permit to act for them. Be aware that Barclays have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Barclays Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels a few years ago even though there are differing opinions concerning the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Figures from the Land Registry indicate that hundreds of law firms, including some in or near West Wickham only carry out a couple conveyances per annum.
I am purchasing a victorian detached house in West Wickham. Our aim is to an extension at the rear at the house.Will the conveyancing process involve enquiries to determine if these works were previously refused?
Your conveyancer will check the deeds as conveyancing in West Wickham can sometimes reveal restrictions in the title documents which prevent certain alterations or need the consent of another owner. Many extensions call for local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
When it comes to lenders such as HSBC, do West Wickham conveyancing practitioners face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in West Wickham. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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.
My relative advised me that where I am buying in West Wickham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your West Wickham conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about West Wickham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the West Wickham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, West Wickham Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding West Wickham.
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in West Wickham. Now, I need the files but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in West Wickham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. West Wickham is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?
Flying freeholds in West Wickham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside West Wickham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in West Wickham may determine 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.
I'm remortgaging my existing house to a buy to let mortgage with Lloyds TSB Bank and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a deposit on a second house. The location we are interested in is West Wickham. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two banks and link together the transactions?
Do use our search tool on this page to be sure that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. Assuming that they are the conveyancer should be able to connect the two deals but you should have a chat with you solicitor and make clear your desired outcome and requirements.