We are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Winterbourne with a mortgage. We have a Winterbourne conveyancer, but the lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel firms or retain our Winterbourne solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We consider that this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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. A further alternative is for your Winterbourne conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Do conveyancers request money up-front when it comes to conveyancing in Winterbourne?
If you are buying a property in Winterbourne your solicitor will ask you place them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Ordinarily this is called for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is as part of the purchase price then this should be needed shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
I have a renovated Victorian property in Winterbourne. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Santander. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Winterbourne and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Winterbourne with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent told me not inform my solicitor about the deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Winterbourne prior to appointing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to issue a mortgage on such a premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Winterbourne. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Winterbourne to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I am due to consider estimates for conveyancing in Winterbourne from numerous property lawyer and choose one. Am I right to ask them to hold tight until I a suitable house to buy.
You should wait to get your conveyancer to commence work and order searches once the sales memorandum has been issued by the estate agent particularly as Winterbourne conveyancing searches are a couple of hundred pounds.