Me and my fiance are acquiring property in Bookham. My Solicitor has never been on on the bank conveyancing list. Can I still appoint my Bookham conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the lender panel?
Your options include
- Complete the deal with your chosen Bookham solicitor but your mortgage company will undoubtedly use a conveyancing practitioner on their approved panel. This will result in additional fees and potential frustration.
- Appoint a fresh conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to do everything within their powers to get listed on the bank’s panel of solicitors
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Bookham conveyancing practitioners are appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander conducted the survey? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I am purchasing a property in Bookham. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Virgin Money have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Virgin Money your lawyer must check the conveyancing requirements outlined in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease does not satisfy these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Bookham.
I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Bookham conveyancer on the Coventry BS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
How do I identify a Bookham solicitor on the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the facility on this website. Please choose the bank and your location and you will see a number of Bookham conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Bookham conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can call them to verify if they are on the Birmingham Midshires member panel
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Bookham for my purchase. Is it possible to see a firm’s record with the legal regulator?
One can find published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's record, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may recorded telephone calls for training purposes.
I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Bookham. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
A small minority of properties in Bookham do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.
I inherited a 1st floor flat in Bookham, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Bookham with over 90 years remaining are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2079
With 54 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
Our solicitor in Bookham has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Bookham. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor has advised that as he is on the bank conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. A precondition to being on the bank approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.