My husband and I are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Woodbridge with a mortgage. We have a Woodbridge lawyer, however the mortgage company says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel firms or keep our Woodbridge solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel that this is inequitable; can we not demand that the lender use our Woodbridge lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. 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 Woodbridge conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
I am due to complete buying a house in Woodbridge but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree compensation from the vendor in the sum of £3k taking the form of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of amending the contract however Clydesdale are not allowing this. Why were they involved?
Your conveyancing practitioner being on the Clydesdale approved list is duty bound to advise Clydesdale of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your conveyancer to notify the reduction to Clydesdale then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Clydesdale and you would have to appoint a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Woodbridge.
A friend recommended that where I am purchasing in Woodbridge 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 included in the estimate for your Woodbridge conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Woodbridge around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Woodbridge.
3 months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Woodbridge took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
How does conveyancing in Woodbridge differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Woodbridge come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because new home sellers in Woodbridge typically acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Woodbridge or who has acted in the same development.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the mortgage company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the lender solicitor panel.