My fiance and I wish to acquire a newbuild flat in Charing Cross with a loan from Yorkshire Building Society.We like our Charing Cross conveyancing practitioner but Yorkshire Building Society informed us his firm is not listed on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct a Yorkshire Building Society panel solicitor or keep our local solicitor and fork out for a Yorkshire Building Society panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Yorkshire Building Society use our lawyer?
No, not really. The loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers must be on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of law firms 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 solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Yorkshire Building Society
My wife and I are purchasing a property in Charing Cross. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we have to deposit funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I currently have a mortgage with RBS for my property in Charing Cross. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform RBS?
RBS must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 RBS directly. You need not do this via a RBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
I had an offer accepted on a house in Charing Cross on 27/9/2024, valuation was booked 4 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Barclays and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Barclays to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Will our conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Charing Cross.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Charing Cross. There are those who buy a house in Charing Cross, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Charing Cross. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard inquiry of the owner to find out whether the premises has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a purchaser may bring a compensation claim as a result of such an incorrect reply. A purchaser’s lawyers will also commission an enviro report. This should disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be initiated.
3 months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Charing Cross concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Charing Cross I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Charing Cross suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.