I am nearing exchange of contracts for my home in Bredon and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are switching conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named lender only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Bredon ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms 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. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
We are planning to acquire a house and need a conveyancing solicitor in Bredon who is on the Barclays solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Barclays . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Bredon.
When it comes to lenders such as Leeds Building Society, do Bredon conveyancing practitioners incur an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Is it the case that all Bredon solicitor firms on the Lloyds conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the firms would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Bredon solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Bredon postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Bredon.
My relative advised me that if I am purchasing in Bredon I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Bredon conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Bredon around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bredon Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Bredon Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Bredon.
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Bredon. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and HSBC Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Bredon and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Bredon ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to give a loan on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Bredon. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Bredon to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.