I am one month into the sale of my flat in Wickford and the EA has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are appointing a new conveyancer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Wickford ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose 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 do not even realise 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.
Please help. My Wickford lawyer is advising me that he is legally obliged toorder Wickford conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Santanderapproved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with a mortgage company your solicitor has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Wickford conveyancing searches.
Should conveyancers request an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Wickford?
If you are buying a property in Wickford your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. Normally this is called for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is as part of the sale price then this will be needed shortly before contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a online directory to to identify firms on the Melton Mowbray Building Society conveyancing panel for example in Wickford?
We have not been informed any plans on the part of the BSA to promote such a search facility.
A relative informed me that in purchasing a property in Wickford there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Wickford which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Wickford should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Intending to buy a maisonette in Wickford. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Wickford conveyancing practitioner is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Wickford solicitor - who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Aldermore will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Aldermore 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 Wickford 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.
I'm buying my first flat in Wickford with a loan from HSBC Bank. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep advised me not reveal to my conveyancer about this deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with HSBC Bank. 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.