I am progressing with the sale of my house in Fratton and Portsea and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are switching solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Fratton and Portsea ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.
Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal 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. Some 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 sway in the decision.
My fiance and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Fratton and Portsea with RBS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the RBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of RBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
A friend advised me that if I am buying in Fratton and Portsea I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Fratton and Portsea conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Fratton and Portsea around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Fratton and Portsea.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Fratton and Portsea. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Fratton and Portsea of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Fratton and Portsea in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may not issue a mortgage on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Fratton and Portsea. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Fratton and Portsea especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Fratton and Portsea.
I have read on numerous consumer advice websites that before choosing a conveyancing solicitors they need approved by your lender. I am a FTB but I have an AIP from Nat West Bank and I already have a high street conveyancing lawyer in Fratton and Portsea at the ready. Can Birmingham Midhshires require an approved conveyancer to be selected? Does a list of approved firms even exist so I can appoint a conveyancing lawyer in Fratton and Portsea?
You should use a solicitor that is on the Birmingham Midhshires panel. Simply call your chosen Fratton and Portsea conveyancing solicitor to check if they are on the Birmingham Midhshires panel. If they are not approved you have a number of alternatives available to you here:
- Complete the deal with your preferred Fratton and Portsea solicitor but Birmingham Midhshires will undoubtedly use a conveyancer from their approved panel. This will result in additional charges and probable frustration.
- Choose a new conveyancing practitioner to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the Birmingham Midhshires conveyancing panel.
- Convince your solicitor to pull out all the stops to get listed on the Birmingham Midhshires panel of solicitors.