My partner and I are looking to acquire a home in Bucknall and have appointed a Bucknall conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Bucknall lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Bucknall lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I sincerely hope you can help me. My Bucknall lawyer is informing me me that she is duty bound toorder Bucknall conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the HSBCconveyancing panel. Do I not have any say here?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a mortgage company your conveyancing practitioner has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Bucknall conveyancing searches.
When it comes to lenders such as Co-operative, do Bucknall conveyancers have to pay a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in April 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, RBS are being difficult. The Bucknall solicitor who is on the RBS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but RBS are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do RBS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that RBS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why RBS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My sealed bid on a semi in Bucknall has been accepted, but there is a chain. The sellers have put an offer on somewhere, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other properties booked. I have instructed a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Bucknall. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Clydesdale?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Bucknall conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should ensure that your solicitor is on the Clydesdale approved list. As to the next phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market many home buyers will apply for a home loan with Clydesdale and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their conveyancing practitioner to move forward with the conveyancing in Bucknall.
What can a local search inform me regarding the house we're buying in Bucknall?
Bucknall conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Onsearch The local search is essential in every Bucknall conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Bucknall I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bucknall for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.