My husband and I are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Amersham with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Amersham lawyer, however the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Amersham conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; are we not able to demand that the lender use our Amersham property 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 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 Amersham conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
As a novice what is the most important piece of guidance you can impart concerning purchase conveyancing in Amersham?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Amersham and elsewhere in Buckinghamshire is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for friction between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and sometimes a bank. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in Amersham is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the transaction whose responsibility is to act in your best interests and to protect you.
On occasion a third party with a vested interest may try and convince you that you should follow their advice. For instance, the selling agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your conveyancer is dragging his heels. Or your financial adviser may try to convince you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
My property lawyer in Amersham is not on the Platform Home Loans Ltd Conveyancing Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Platform Home Loans Ltd panel?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Carry on with your existing Amersham solicitors but Platform Home Loans Ltd will need to instruct a conveyancer on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal fees as well as result in delays.
- Get an alternative practitioner to to deal with the conveyancing, remembering to check they are Convince your solicitor to do everything within their powers to join the Platform Home Loans Ltd conveyancing panel
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Amersham. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £150. Shortly after, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Nationwide are being pedantic. The Amersham solicitor who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Nationwide are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Nationwide have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nationwide have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nationwide may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Amersham property lawyer having made sure that they are on the UBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
UBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually UBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Amersham surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I am a fortnight into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the selling agent to execute conveyancing in Amersham. I am am very dissatisfied with the level of service. Could you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
They would have to be very bad in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? If so you need to advise them of the replacement lawyer and ensure the mortgage documents are re-issued. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks panel to avoid escalating expenses and frustration. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our find a solicitor tool should help you find a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Amersham
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Amersham. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Amersham - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I bought a studio flat in Amersham, conveyancing having been completed in 2001. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Amersham with over 90 years remaining are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2087
You have 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £17,100 and £19,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.