I am selling my flat in Chalk Farm and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are changing their solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major lender only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Chalk Farm ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few 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 decades.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some 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. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
We are a couple about to sign contracts for a leasehold flat in Chalk Farm. We encountered a stumbling block. Our loan offer with Bank of Scotland expires on 20/12/2021 but the sellers are suggesting a completion date of 22/12/2021. Can one extend the loan offer?
The best person to address this issue is your solicitors who will hopefully calculate if they corresponding with the lender, seller’s lawyers, estate agents or conceivably all three based on what has gone on in your house move to date.
We are purchasing a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in Chalk Farm who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Can you recommend a local firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Lloyds . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Chalk Farm.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as FTB of a garden flat in Chalk Farm. Do I collect the keys to the premises on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Chalk Farm?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Chalk Farm. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the seller's solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
My lawyer has informed me that absentee landlord insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Chalk Farm conveyancing?
The right level of absentee landlord indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Halifax and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
I have a mortgage with Coventry BS for my property in Chalk Farm. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Coventry BS?
You must advise Coventry BS before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Coventry BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Coventry BS will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Coventry BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Coventry BS conveyancing panel firm.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Chalk Farm. Now, I need my documents but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Chalk Farm of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I'm buying my first flat in Chalk Farm benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my lawyer about the side-deal as it will adversely 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.