I am in the throes of transferring my current residential home loan to a BTL Santander mortgage. I have been informed by my broker that I need a conveyancer as part of the process. I had a chat my past St Helier conveyancing firm who dealt with the legals when I previously acquired the house. The costs illustration they've given of £550 has surprised me as I am not require purchase conveyancing - it’s simply a straightforward remortgage.
The quote is slightly on the steep side. If you shop around you might shave off some of the cost by perhaps £125. On the other hand, assuming were pleased with the conveyancing the firm gave you maycome to rue choosing an a cheaper conveyancer. Remember to be sure that the firm can act for Santander. You can employ our search tool to select a St Helier conveyancing firm on the Santander approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in St Helier.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in St Helier for our house move. Our financial adviser has since notified us that our mortgage company Skipton Building Society won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
Before the recession most banks had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. Almost all St Helier conveyancing firms would have been on many lender panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 carried out a thematic investigation into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, mortgage companies are increasingly seeing more data from law firms about their operations and the individuals who work for them as well as establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum amount of transactions. Many St Helier conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. St Helier is amongst the hundreds of areas where the solicitors we recommend are are approved Skipton Building Society.
My colleague recommended that if I am buying in St Helier I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard St Helier conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about St Helier around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding St Helier.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in St Helier?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in St Helier. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I have today had an offer accepted on a leasehold flat in St Helier and the broker that we are using suggested his lawyer. They quoted £800 including VAT and 3rd party costs. Does this sound reasonable?
Don't just go on 1 estimate. You should seek like-for-like quotes for your conveyancing in St Helier. Then pick one that you are comfortable with and crucially, is on the approved panel of the bank that you have applied for a mortgage from.