I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in West Wittering and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only work with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in West Wittering ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
We see that you have a search directory identifying law firms on the Principality conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our conveyancing in West Wittering?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in West Wittering.
Is there a search tool that I can use to investigate if the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in West Wittering is on the mortgage lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Nationwide Building Society thus spending £187.00 plus VAT in additional legal fees.
Please do make the most of the search tool on this site. Pick the mortgage company and type ‘West Wittering’ or your location and you will be presented with numerous conveyancers offices in West Wittering or nearest you.
The deeds to my home can not be found. The conveyancers who dealt with the conveyancing in West Wittering 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
Assuming the title is registered the details of your ownership will be evidenced by HMLR under a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and obtain current copies of the property title for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I am purchasing a new build house in West Wittering with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about this side-deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with Alliance & Leicester . Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in West Wittering before instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on this type of premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in West Wittering. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.