I am five weeks into the sale of my flat in Birchington and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new solicitor. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Birchington ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The bank mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to appoint their panel conveyancer as I would much rather use a Birchington based conveyancing firm?
You should check but the chances are that give you one of their panel solicitors where you accept the "fee-free" deal. Contact the mortgage company to ask if they make available a monetary alternative. In the past a few lenders offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case that money can go towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor near Birchington.
Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal proposed roadworks that could impact a commercial site in Birchington?
Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Birchington will conduct a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers expend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Birchington. The report provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Birchington.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Birchington it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately can result in delays to Birchington commercial conveyancing transactions as well as pose a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for domestic conveyancing in Birchington.
Me and my brother purchased a semi-detached Georgian property in Birchington. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Bank of Ireland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Bank of Ireland to clarify?
You should read 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Birchington 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 mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Birchington is the location of the property. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Birchington are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Birchington you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Birchington may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I have been Googling for Birchington online conveyancing estimates. Can I be confident that all the Birchington firms that are listed on your site are on the lender conveyancing panel?
The law firms on our directory have advised us that they are on the mortgage company panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the bank panel. To date we have not been informed by either a bank or a member of the public that the data about a specific Birchington conveyancing solicitor being on the bank conveyancing panel is incorrect.