I am one month into the sale of my ground floor flat in Eastwood and the EA has just called to advise that the buyers are swapping law firm. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Eastwood ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say 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.
Some advice if I may. My Eastwood lawyer is assuring me that he has toconduct Eastwood conveyancing searches stemming from the fact thatthe firm are on the Nat Westsolicitor panel. Do I not have a choice here?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a mortgage company your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook specifications . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Eastwood conveyancing searches.
It is 10 years ago since I acquired my property in Eastwood. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I can't track down my deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be retained by the mortgage company or they could be archived with the conveyancers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in all probability the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Eastwood relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
How do I identify a Eastwood solicitor on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am prepared to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the search on this website. Please pick a lender and your location and you will see a number of Eastwood conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Eastwood conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to check whether they are on the Yorkshire Building Society panel
I am looking at a couple of flats in Eastwood both have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There are plenty of short leases in Eastwood. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena.
Eastwood Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying
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Does the lease have onerous restrictions? Many Eastwood leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the block set by the management company. Where you acquire the flat you will have to meet this charge, usually in instalments during the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it could be surprisingly expensive. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?
After what feels like an age I have had an offer on an flat in Eastwood agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have offered on a property, although it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Eastwood. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with TSB?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain given your reluctance to incur costs too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Eastwood conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your solicitor is on the TSB conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many buyers will apply for the mortgage with TSB and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Eastwood.