My property lawyer in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge is not on the Coventry Building Society Approved Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Coventry Building Society list of approved lawyers?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Carry on with your preferred Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge solicitors but Coventry Building Society will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional overall conveyancing charges and result in frustration.
- Choose a new practitioner to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the Coventry Building Society panel
A colleague informed me that in purchasing a property in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge there may be various restrictions preventing external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We previously appointed conveyancers with offices in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge on the Lloyds solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional amount for handling the Lloyds mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Lloyds?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner may charge a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Lloyds but by your Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Lloyds panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I am buying a property in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Santander have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander your lawyer must follow the formal requirements set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Santander. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Santander where a lease fails to meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not to tell my solicitor about this side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with Bank of Scotland. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am a fortnight into a freehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the estate agent to do our conveyancing in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge. I am not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
A solicitor would have to be really bad to suggest changing them. Has your loan offer been generated? In the event that it has you need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and ensure the offer are re-sent. Your conveyancer needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental fees and frustration. That should be your first question of the new solicitors. The find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a bank approved lawyer for your home move in Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge
My son is just in the process of moving home, he had his mortgage in principle. One the seller agreed the offer on the apartment we called the lender to go forward with his. I was very surprised to hear that mortgage lenders do not accept all conveyancing practitioner, they must be on their panel, is this legal?
Lenders ordinarily imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Fir Vale and Wadsley Bridge conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.