I am selling my house in Catford and the estate agent has just called to say that the buyers are changing their solicitor. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Catford ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.
Mortgage companies attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. 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 are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Catford is more expensive?
The conveyancing costs for a leasehold property in Catford is frequently more expensive as compared to a freehold residence. This is because there is an amount of supplemental work required in corresponding with the landlord and managing agents to collate the information about whether the rent and service fee have been discharged and whether there are any large sums expected to be spent in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as TSB, do Catford conveyancers incur a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Catford solicitor on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham 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 Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, 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 Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Catford off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Co-operative. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Co-operative, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
four months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Catford concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. 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 property 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Catford I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Catford in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
My partner and I have an offer in principle from Barclays Direct who said we could borrow up to £218k. When do we need to appoint a practitioner for conveyancing? Catford is where we plan to move to.
You can appoint a lawyer now and ask them to create a file for you. This will trigger: 1) the estate agent to issue a Sales Memorandum to all parties 2) the seller’s solicitor to submit the draft contract. That being said, do not instruct your property lawyer to start searches until you receive your valuation report via Barclays Direct and you are content to move forward.