My husband and I are planning to purchase a flat in Rickmansworth and have appointed a Rickmansworth conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Rickmansworth lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional 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 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 Rickmansworth lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Should our lawyer be asking questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Rickmansworth.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Rickmansworth. Plenty of people will acquire a property in Rickmansworth, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that can be carried out by the buyer or by their conveyancers which can give them a better understanding of the risks in Rickmansworth. The conventional set of information supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual inquiry of the vendor to discover whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the seller, then a purchaser may issue a compensation claim resulting from an incorrect answer. The purchaser’s solicitors may also carry out an enviro report. This should disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be carried out.
I purchased my house on 12 September and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Rickmansworth advises it will be formalised in less than a month. Are properties in Rickmansworth uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in Rickmansworth registration is no quicker or slower than anywhere else in England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry communicate with any 3rd parties. As of today approximately 80% of such applications are completed within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive delays. Registration occurs after the purchaser has moved in to the premises thus registration formalities is not always primary concern but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Rickmansworth in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Rickmansworth. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Myself and my wife have just had an offer agreed on a property and had an appointment on Wednesday with HSBC for the mortgage. They advised us that when it comes to selecting a lawyer that unless they are on their approved list of lawyers then we will have to pay out an additional charge of about two hundred pounds. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to select a conveyancer to act for them in addition to the one we choose to act for ourselves and we will be on the hook for their fees. I have asked HSBC to supply me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved solicitors but was told that I need to check with each individual solicitor to see if they are on the panel. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?
Ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the conveyancer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC before. If the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with HSBC. Another option is to use our search tool and we may be able to locate a conveyancing practitioner in Rickmansworth on the approved list for HSBC.