My husband and I are looking to acquire a house in Boscombe and are in fact using a Boscombe conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Boscombe conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Boscombe solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
The owners have very pushy sellers who has insisted on a preliminary agreement with a payment two thousand pounds. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
Lock out agreements are contracts binding a property owner and purchaser giving the buyer a ‘clear field’ to purchase the property for a certain period of time. Essentially, an exclusivity is a document specifying that you will receive a contract at a later date which is the contract for the actual sale. It tends to be utilised for buyer protection though in many situations, the owner may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are many pros and cons to using an agreement but you should to check with your conveyancer but note that it may result in incurring extra in conveyancing charges. In light of this these agreements are rare in relation to conveyancing in Boscombe.
I purchased a freehold residence in Boscombe yet charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Boscombe and has limited impact for conveyancing in Boscombe but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges post 1977.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Boscombe. My lender is The Mortgage Works
The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 20/1/2025, the requirements read as follows :
2 months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Boscombe took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am buying a new build house in Boscombe benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative told me not to tell my solicitor about this side-deal as it could affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.