I had an offer accepted on a property in Ashford on 3/12/2024, valuation was booked 3 days after, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to UBS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for UBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the UBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I've 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 Ashford solicitor - who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale 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. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Ashford postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Clydesdale, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Ashford.
RBS have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a house in Ashford has been accepted, what are the next steps?
Your estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure the solicitors are on the bank’s panel). Call up RBS or your financial adviser and finish off any relevant paperwork. RBS will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to arrange an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. RBS will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Ashford.
It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in Ashford took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
How does conveyancing in Ashford differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Ashford approach us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because new home sellers in Ashford usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Ashford or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Ashford before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders tend refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Ashford. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Ashford especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Ashford.
I was advised by numerous selling agents in Ashford to select a property lawyer using your seach tool. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to promote your services over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t give any commission for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.