We are purchasing a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Gateshead who is on the Leeds Building Society solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Leeds Building Society . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Gateshead.
What happens if my solicitor is suspended from the Clydesdale Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Gateshead?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
My wife and I are in the throws of looking at apartments in Gateshead and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it wise to have a conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with Nationwide.
You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are getting a mortgage with Nationwide, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Skipton. I assume I don't need a Gateshead lawyer on the Skipton panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Skipton mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Skipton mortgage from the register. Skipton, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Skipton has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Skipton has instructed the Land Registry to do so
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Gateshead. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.
Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Gateshead. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Aldermore. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Gateshead and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I'm buying my first flat in Gateshead with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it would put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
How up-to-date is your database of lawyers on the lender conveyancing panel in Gateshead? Do the lenders send you an updated list?
Gateshead firms and firms conducting conveyancing in Gateshead themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the lender conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the lender directly.