I am six weeks into the sale of my home in Kenton and the EA has just text me to say that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Kenton ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
We note that you have a search directory identifying solicitors on the Principality conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Kenton?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Kenton.
I'm spending time looking at apartments in Kenton and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Principality.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the selling agent. As you are getting a mortgage with Principality, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have paid off my mortgage with Aldermore. I assume I don't need a Kenton solicitor on the Aldermore panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Aldermore mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Aldermore mortgage from the register. Aldermore, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Aldermore has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Aldermore has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with Santander for my property in Kenton. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Santander?
Your original mortgage agreement with Santander will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Santander’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Santander 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 Santander directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Santander conveyancing panel solicitor.
Last September I purchased a leasehold flat in Kenton. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I have given up negotiating a lease extension in Kenton. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kenton residence is 139/139A Masons Avenue in February 2010. this was a case with an absentee freeholder. As a result the leaseholders applied to Willesden County Court for an order dispensing with the giving of a notice of claim.14th October 2009 District Judge Brar granted a vesting order and the court directed that the matter should be transferred to this tribunal to determine the freehold premium. The tribunal concluded on a figure of £13,000 for the freehold interest This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 74 years.
I bought a flat in Kenton last 30/11/2023 and to date it is still not recorded with HM Land Registry. It is part of a new estate and my property lawyer told me that it can take over a year to complete the registration formalities. I have spoken with the Land Registry directly and they say that the initial application was cancelled due to questions not being addressed in time. Should I be concerned?
It is your lawyer that you should contact in order to satisfy any issues which have arisen as part of the registration process for your Kenton property. Normal Kenton conveyancing practice includes an undertaking on the part of the previous owner’s conveyancing practitioner that they will assist in resolving any question raised by HMLR so it may be a case of seeking to enforce that undertaking in some way.