My husband and I are hoping to acquire a home in Brockley and have instructed a Brockley conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Virgin Money have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Brockley conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brockley solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
AssumingI was to acquire a straightforward homein Brockley mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much should I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Brockley?
The sole reduction in fees you would achieve is the costs for searches. Your solicitor is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, correspond with your vendors conveyancer, SDLT return, register the title etc. A slight saving might be made by not needing to register a mortgage however it won't be a lot.
I am buying a terraced house in Brockley. Conveyancing solicitors are said to be ‘a necessary evil’ but can I do it myself?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Brockley you will have to appoint a solicitor on your bank's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Brockley.
I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Brockley. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in June. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. many banks would take a sensible view as this requirement is chiefly there to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Brockley on 28/5/2020, valuation was booked 4 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Kent Reliance and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Are Kent Reliance entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Kent Reliance to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Bank of Ireland have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Brockley has been accepted, what happens next?
The estate agent will want to be advised as to your lawyer's details (make sure the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Bank of Ireland or your financial adviser and finish off any relevant paperwork. Bank of Ireland will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or vendor to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Bank of Ireland will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Brockley.
I purchased my apartment on 8 October and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Brockley advises it should be registered inside ten days. Are titles in Brockley particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Brockley registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any third parties. At present approximately 80% of submission are fully dealt with within two weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Historically registration takes place after the new owner is living at the premises so 'speed' is not usually an essential issue but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor should speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Brockley with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my solicitor about the side-deal as it could affect my loan with the bank. 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.