What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in Ashtead?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Ashtead or throughout Surrey is often a confrontational process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. E.g., the seller, estate agent and even potentially the mortgage company. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Ashtead should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the transaction whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of all other parties in the conveyancing process.
we are a couple who are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Ashtead with a homeloan from Britannia.We would like to retain our Ashtead conveyancing lawyer but Britannia says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint a Britannia panel lawyer or retain our local solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that conveyancers will be on the Britannia solicitor panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find 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. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Britannia
Can you point me to a directory of TSB panel solicitors in Ashtead on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few lending institutions make their panel listings available on the web. If you are in need of a Ashtead lawyer on the TSB please use our facility.
My wife and I are in the throws of looking at flats in Ashtead and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have my conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a home loan with Nationwide.
It would be sensible 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 pass their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
The mortgage over my property is with HSBC for my property in Ashtead. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform HSBC?
HSBC must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’s mortgage conditions. It may be that HSBC will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel firm.
A colleague recommended that if I am buying in Ashtead I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Ashtead conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Ashtead around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Ashtead.
Should I be suspicious that third parties that I am dealing with are suggesting a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Ashtead conveyancing firm?
As with many service providers, often recommendations from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are many people with a keen interest in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks may suggest solicitors to appoint. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You have the discretion to appoint your preferred conveyancer. Don't forget that some lenders have an approved list of solicitors you are obliged to use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.