My husband and I are planning to acquire a flat in Brent Park and have instructed a Brent Park conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Brent Park conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brent Park solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We note that you have a search directory identifying firms on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I retain them for our conveyancing in Brent Park?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Brent Park.
Should our conveyancer be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Brent Park.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in Brent Park. There are those who purchase a property in Brent Park, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better understanding of the risks in Brent Park. The standard information given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual question of the vendor to determine if the property has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser may commence a claim for damages stemming from an misleading response. The buyer’s lawyers will also commission an environmental report. This should disclose whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations should be conducted.
My wife and I have a renovated Victorian property in Brent Park. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking Birmingham Midshires to clarify?
You should 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 Brent Park and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.
I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Brent Park before instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders tend not give a loan on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Brent Park. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for sale conveyancing in Brent Park. I have discover a web site which appears to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all formalities done via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be concerned? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?