My partner and I are planning to acquire a property in St James's and are in fact using a St James's conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Britannia have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our St James's lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own St James's solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Can you vouch for a Barclays accepted St James's conveyancing practice who can have us moved in within 28 days? Would it be better to use a local St James's conveyancer or a nationwide conveyancer?
We would be happy to suggest some excellent St James's conveyancing firms. Another option is to visit the main road in St James's. Approach some well established law practices and request to see a conveyancing solicitor for a fee estimate. Discuss your time frames together with your reasons and ask for an assurance on speed. Appoint the lawyer that you trust.
I used Action Conveyancing a few years past for my conveyancing in St James's. Now, I need my documents however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St James's of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in St James's I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in St James's for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Is it possible to switch conveyancer as I need to appoint a firm on the Alliance & Leicester conveyancing list. I instructed a family conveyancing solicitor in St James's round the corner but she is not accepted by Alliance & Leicester
It would be our pleasure to assist you find a conveyancing solicitor in St James's on the Alliance & Leicester panel. Please note that the law firms that we list do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are authorised and regulated by the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in St James's. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can contrast fees for conveyancing solicitors in St James's and beyond.