I am one month into the sale of my home in Wombwell and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading mortgage company only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Wombwell ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Wombwell? Why is this being asked of me?
You are right in the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Wombwell. Nowadays you will not be able to proceed with any conveyancing deal if you have not supplying evidence of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence and a council tax bill. Remember if you are supplying your driving licence as evidence of ID it must be both the paper element and photo card part, one is not sufficient without the other.
Verification of the origin of money is required in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. Please do not be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer will need to have this information on record. Your Wombwell conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any monies from you into their client account and they will also ask further queries concerning the source of funds.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a search tool with a view to to identify practices on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel for example in Wombwell?
We would not expect to be advised of any intention on the part of the BSA to develop such a register.
My husband and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Coventry BS as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in Wombwell. Are we obliged to select a high street Wombwell solicitor on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Coventry BS don't usually appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Bank of Ireland. Is it usual for Bank of Ireland to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Wombwell is approved on their conveyancing panel? Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Our offer on a detached house in Wombwell has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have put an offer on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Wombwell. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Santander?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Wombwell conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Santander approved list. As to the subsequent stages this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market the majority of buyers would apply for a home loan with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Wombwell.
A friend advised me that if I am buying in Wombwell I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Wombwell conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Wombwell around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Wombwell Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Wombwell.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Wombwell. I now require my file but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should call 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 Wombwell of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.