My husband and I are planning to purchase a flat in Friern Barnet and are in fact using a Friern Barnet conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Friern Barnet lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Friern Barnet solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our mortgage company has suggested solicitors on their panel based in Friern Barnet but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Friern Barnet or nearer to where I live. Are you able to help?
Not all Friern Barnet conveyancing firms are on all banks conveyancing panel. Use our find an approved solicitor tool to identify a Friern Barnet conveyancing solicitor on the on the bank panel.
I bought my home on 1 October and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Friern Barnet said it will be dealt with in a couple of weeks. Are titles in Friern Barnet particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in Friern Barnet is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry communicate with any other persons or bodies. At present approximately three quarters of such applications are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to protracted delays. Registration is effected after the buyer has moved in to the property therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
How does conveyancing in Friern Barnet differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Friern Barnet come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because developers in Friern Barnet tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Friern Barnet or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Friern Barnet is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Friern Barnet are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Friern Barnet you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Friern Barnet may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
I have been searching for Friern Barnet online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the Friern Barnet law firms that are identified on your website are on the lender conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the bank panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the mortgage company panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific Friern Barnet firm being on the lender conveyancing panel is incorrect.