My wife and I are hoping to buy a flat in Hellesdon and have appointed a Hellesdon conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. National Westminster Bank have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Hellesdon conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual 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 mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hellesdon solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My property lawyer in Hellesdon has never been on on the Halifax Approved Panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my family solicitor even though they are not on the Halifax panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Hellesdon lawyers but Halifax will need to use a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing fees and result in delays.
- Find an alternative practitioner to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are Convince your lawyer to use their best endeavours to join the Halifax conveyancing panel
Is there a list of Aldermore panel conveyancers in Hellesdon on the Building Society Association’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of lending institutions make their panel listings viewable online. If you are looking for a Hellesdon conveyancer on the Aldermore please use our tool.
My partner and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Skipton as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in Hellesdon. Are we obliged to choose a high street Hellesdon solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Skipton don't usually require a member of their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Skipton list.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Hellesdon. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender TSB be concerned?
Given that your lender is TSB your lawyer must follow the formal requirements contained in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to TSB where a lease fails to meet these conditions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not isolated to Hellesdon.
A relative advised me that if I am buying in Hellesdon I should ask my conveyancer to 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 Hellesdon conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Hellesdon 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 type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Hellesdon Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Hellesdon.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Hellesdon I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Hellesdon in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
How do I use the search tool to locate a conveyancing solicitor in Hellesdon on the panel for my lender?
Step one is to pick a lender such as Barclays , The Royal Bank of Scotland or TSB then type in your location a common one being Hellesdon. Conveyancing organisations in Hellesdon and across England and Wales will then be shown.