I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in White City and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are changing their property lawyer. The reason given is that the bank will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in White City ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content 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 acted for them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened 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 says it is being contacted daily by practices 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 buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
We are purchasing a house and need a conveyancing solicitor in White City who is on the UBS solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a conveyancing firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for UBS . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in White City.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Barclays Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in White City?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
There are numerous conveyancing solicitors in White City but how do I know who I should use?
It would be unwise to be seduced by the lowest White City conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in December 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Yorkshire BS are being problematic. The White City solicitor who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Yorkshire BS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Yorkshire BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Yorkshire BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Yorkshire BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Virgin Money. Is it usual for Virgin Money to only issue the offer once my solicitor in White City is approved on their conveyancing panel? Virgin Money have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Virgin Money to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I acquired my house on 9 March and the transaction details are still not on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in White City expressed confidence that it will be recorded in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in White City particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in White City registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry communicate with any other parties. At present in the region of 80% of submission are fully addressed within two weeks but occasionally there can be protracted hold-ups. Historically registration takes place after the purchaser has moved in to the premises so 'speed' is not usually primary concern yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a White City conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a White City conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggest that you make enquires with several firms including non White City conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be of use:
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Can they put you in touch with clients in White City who can give a testimonial? How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in White City. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a White City residence is 23 & 23A Collingbourne Road in June 2013. Tribunal was dealing with the assessment of the value of the freehold reversion and determination of the terms of the acquisition pursuant to an Order of District Judge Lightman dated 25 February 2013 vesting the freehold interest in the property in the applicant. The tribunal assessed the price of the freehold (to which any arrears or other sums due to the missing landlord under the leases should be added) at £81,638. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 64.5 years.