My fiance and I are planning to purchase a property in Frenchay Common and have instructed a Frenchay Common conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Frenchay Common solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Frenchay Common solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
When can the exchange of contracts happen for domestic conveyancing in Frenchay Common and am I required to attend the lawyers office?
Where you are near to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Frenchay Common you are welcome to come in to sign the paperwork. That being said, the lender approved solicitors we work with supply a national conveyancing service and provide as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The signing of the sale agreement is not the critical part. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the firm to address the formalities when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Frenchay Common)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
I am buying a property in Frenchay Common. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Skipton have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Skipton your lawyer must follow the formal requirements contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Skipton. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Skipton where a lease does not satisfy these specifications. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Frenchay Common.
It is not clear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Frenchay Common bank branch on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Frenchay Common conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Your lawyer must follow the CML Handbook section two specifications for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Frenchay Common. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I'm buying my first flat in Frenchay Common with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the deal as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Frenchay Common I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Frenchay Common suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
What does commercial conveyancing in Frenchay Common cover?
Commercial conveyancing in Frenchay Common incorporates a wide array of advice, offered by regulated solicitors, relating to business premises. By way of example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the assignment of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of tenancies.