I am selling my ground floor flat in Cranfield and the estate agent has just called to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new conveyancer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Cranfield ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices 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.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Cranfield what would it be?
Do not opt for the lowest Cranfield conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
Is there a list of TSB panel conveyancers in Cranfield on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of lenders make their panel listings open the public on the web. If you are in need of a Cranfield conveyancing practitioner on the TSB please make the most of our facility.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Coventry BS. Cranfield conveyancing solicitors have been chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Coventry BS?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Coventry BS completed the valuation? Have you advised Coventry BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
We are selling our home in Cranfield and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A high street Cranfield lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed an online conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Cranfield. Having lived in Cranfield for six years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I have todaybeen informed that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Cranfield for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest method to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Cranfield conveyancing specialists.
I am employed by a long established estate agency in Cranfield where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Cranfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Cranfield - A selection of Queries before Purchasing
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You should want to find out as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they can either make life much easier or uncomfortable. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day issues like the cleanliness of the common parts. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their management. On a final note, find out the dates that the service fees are due to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money. The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.
My husband and I are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Cranfield. At the time of instructing our solicitor, they assured us that they were on all mainstream bank panels. The financial adviser contacted us yesterday to advise that they are not on the TSB approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Do we just choose a different conveyancing practitioner that is on their approved list or do we cover the costs for separate representation, with TSB selecting their own preferred conveyancing practitioner.
If you are purchasing a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser’s lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a conveyancer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the property lawyer has to fulfill. Some mortgage companies now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your lawyer should call TSB to discover if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on TSB's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Cranfield solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another solicitor into the mix.