My husband and I are hoping to buy a house in Bestwood and are in fact using a Bestwood conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Bestwood conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Bestwood lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
In the event thatI was to acquire a simple residential homein Bestwood mortgage fee and have no survey and no conveyancing searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Bestwood?
Any savings you would achieve will be limited to the Bestwood conveyancing searches. The conveyancing practitioner still got to do everything else - money laundering, correspond with your vendors lawyer, stamp duty submission, register the title etc. A marginal saving might be made by not needing to register a mortgage but it will not be a lot.
I am helping my step-mother sell her house in Bestwood. Does the conveyancing solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or should I organise this?
After the demise of HIPs, energy assessments was maintained a required component of selling a property. An EPC needs to be commissioned prior to the property being marketed. This is not something that law firms ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Bestwood conveyancing lawyer they may help arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with long established local accredited person
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nottingham, do Bestwood conveyancers have to pay an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
My wife and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Yorkshire BS as we wish to conduct alterations to our property in Bestwood. Are we obliged to choose a nearby Bestwood solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Yorkshire BS don't usually appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS list.
My wife and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Bestwood and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Bestwood. We have lived in Bestwood for many years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Bestwood?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Bestwood. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
When it comes to my conveyancing in Bestwood should I be paying VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee
(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Bestwood conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the conveyancing practitioner's time in submitting the funds this way.