We are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Studley with a mortgage. We have a Studley conveyancer, but the bank says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel firms or keep our Studley lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We consider that this is unjust; can we not require that the lender use our Studley property lawyer ?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Studley conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Are the Studley conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Santander conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Santander?
Studley conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Santander directly.
We're in Studley, First time buyers buying with a mortgage (lender is Principality , and our lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
I'm buying a new build house in Studley with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it would impact my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.
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.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one near me in Studley I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Studley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the 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 request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the selling agent told us that the vendor will only go ahead if we instruct the agent's preferred solicitors as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in Studley
It is improbable the owners are driving this. Should the seller require ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Contact the vendors directly and explain that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to appoint your preferred Studley conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthe ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a commission or meet his conveyancing targets set by senior management.