My husband and I are planning to buy a flat in Walkden and are in fact using a Walkden conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Walkden solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Walkden solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our lender has recommended a law firm on their panel based in Walkden but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Walkden local to me. Can you help?
Far from all Walkden conveyancing firms are approved and listed on all lender’s conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to locate a Walkden conveyancing firm on the on the mortgage company panel.
We are purchasing a 3 bedroom semi in Walkden. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal conveyancing on the property include enquiries to determine if these works are allowed?
Your conveyancer will check the registered title as conveyancing in Walkden will on occasion identify restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain works or necessitated the consent of another owner. Certain extensions require local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
Is it the case that all Walkden solicitor firms on the Skipton conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We had appointed solicitors based in Walkden on the Skipton solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional sum for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Skipton?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your property lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Skipton but by your Walkden conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Skipton panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
Are there any apps to help identify a Walkden law firm on the Lloyds TSB Bank conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am willing to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the lawyer.
Feel free to make use of the facility on this website. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Walkden conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Walkden conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can telephone them to see if they are on the Lloyds TSB Bank member panel
I am using a search engine for the term on line conveyancing in Walkden it reveals numerous solicitorslocally. How do I determine which is the suitable conveyancer for purchase transaction?
The preferential way of choosing the right conveyancer is via trusted testimonial, so enquire of colleagues and relatives who have purchased a property in Walkden or a respected estate agent or mortgage broker. Costs for conveyancing in Walkden differ, so it's sensible to secure a minimum of four estimates from different property lawyers. Make sure that you know what costs in the quote includes.