I am in the process of selling my maisonette in Formby and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are swapping law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major lender only work with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Formby ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies 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 claims that 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
We are a couple about to sign contracts for a property in Formby. We have hit a snag. Our loan offer with Coventry Building Society runs out on 7/3/2025 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 11/3/2025. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage offer?
The best person to deal with your question is your lawyer who is in a position to assess if he or she is corresponding with the lender, vendor’s representatives, estate agents or conceivably all parties given the history of your house move to date.
The Formby conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Formby have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred Formby lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help.
What is your number one tip for finding a conveyancing solicitor in Formby
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the lowest Formby conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. 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 go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I'm the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Formby. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. Some banks would take a practical view as this provision chiefly exists to identify subsales or the quick reselling of properties.
We previously instructed conveyancers located in Formby on the TSB solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental sum for the legal aspects of the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by TSB?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by TSB but by your Formby conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the TSB panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Formby. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Formby
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If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please supply a car parking plan.
We have an offer in principle from Barclays Direct who indicated that they will loan up to £117k. At what point do we need to appoint a lawyer for conveyancing? Formby is where we plan to move to.
You can appoint a property lawyer now so that the conveyancer can open the file so they can do their AML checks etc. If and when you wish them to commence work you will be asked for a deposit normally approximately £175. That should normally be once you have the loan offer from your lender and valuation report, however if you wish to speed the process you can start sooner albeit risking some expense.