I am hoping to receive a mortgage offer from Halifax. I hope to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Shirehampton. Does the Halifax Conveyancing panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Halifax approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, associated to the CML or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
We are buying a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Shirehampton who is on the UBS approved panel. Can you recommend a local solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for UBS . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Shirehampton.
The Shirehampton conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my purchase in Shirehampton have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a firm on the TSB conveyancing panel and my previous Shirehampton lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
I am purchasing a property in Shirehampton. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender RBS be concerned?
As your lender is RBS your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for RBS. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to RBS where a lease does not satisfy these conditions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Shirehampton.
I'm spending time viewing apartments in Shirehampton and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a solicitor in place at this point? I am planning to take a home loan with Kent Reliance.
You should start requesting conveyancing estimates 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 pass their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have paid off my mortgage with Principality. I assume I don't need a Shirehampton solicitor on the Principality panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Principality 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 Principality mortgage from the register. Principality, 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 Principality has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Principality has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am purchasing a new build house in Shirehampton with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it may impact my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.