My fiance and I are looking to buy a flat in Longford and are in fact using a Longford conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property 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 morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Longford solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Longford lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My partner and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a flat in Longford and my parents have sent the exchange deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now told that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I informed the lender regarding my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to hold matters up?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with the bank to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only report this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I am selling my home in Longford. Will my conveyancer need to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
I am the sole beneficiary of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Longford. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in November. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in November. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. Some mortgage companies would take a practical view as this obligation is principally there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Longford. I have a mortgage offer with Nottingham. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
Barclays have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Longford has been agreed to, now what?
Your property agent will need to be advised as to your lawyer's details (ensure that the lawyers are on the lender’s panel). Contact Barclays or the broker and finalise any relevant paperwork. Barclays will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to book an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Barclays will send the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Longford.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Longford I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Longford for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a home loan that many years will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.