Me and my fiance are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Woodcote Green with a mortgage. We have a Woodcote Green lawyer, but the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Woodcote Green lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; can we not insist that the lender use our Woodcote Green solicitor ?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Woodcote Green conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Skipton Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Woodcote Green?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. 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 at a cost.
Is it the case that all Woodcote Green solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Coventry BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the firms would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
My partner and I are spending time looking at houses in Woodcote Green and I am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Nationwide.
It would be advisable to commence your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Woodcote Green. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
I know that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I need this when purchasing a property in Woodcote Green? or Apparently there is an ancient law that means some homeowners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for maintenance towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this suitable for conveyancing in Woodcote Green?
Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you can assume that lawyers conducting conveyancing in Woodcote Green to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
My wife and I have a semi-detached Victorian property in Woodcote Green. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Woodcote Green and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.
New build sellers have put forward a conveyancer and I've received an estimate from them. They are nearly three hundred pounds less expensive than my family Woodcote Green lawyer. What's the catch?
Developers normally have panels of conveyancing practitioners who are quick and who know the builder's paperwork and conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of developers offer an inducement to choose a preferred conveyancer for this reason, any increased fees can be avoided and a builder will not recommend a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the transaction stall when they require an exchange within a tight deadline. The argument for not agreeing to use the suggested conveyancer is that they may be hesitant to 'push' your interests at the risk of upsetting the sellers. If you worry that this may be the situation you should remain with your local Woodcote Green conveyancer.