My wife and I are hoping to acquire a house in Belsize Park and are in fact using a Belsize Park conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Lloyds TSB Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Belsize Park lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Belsize Park lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our solicitor has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are buying in Belsize Park. The other side have suggested defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our property lawyer has advised that he must be satisfied that the bank is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their provisions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the mortgage company are the client. These conveyancing instructions have to be complied with.
Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Belsize Park even if I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for instance if I wish to acquire an office in Belsize Park with a loan from Skipton Building Society?
Our search tool is primarily utilised to get a quote from residential conveyancing solicitors in Belsize Park but we have listed at the bottom of this page a few Belsize Park commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the company directly to establish if they are also authorised to represent Skipton Building Society
A friend advised me that if I am buying in Belsize Park I should 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 occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Belsize Park conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Belsize Park around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Belsize Park Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Belsize Park.
I opted to have a survey done on a house in Belsize Park prior to retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on this type of home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Belsize Park. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I have instructed a Belsize Park conveyancing solicitor for our home move (first time buyers) and have picked up in the Ts and Cs that they are not overseen by the FCA. Should I be concerned or is that the norm with conveyancer?
We can't see why they should be. Most conveyancer don't lend money. You should check that they are governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who have stringent laws covering amounts deposited on client account.