My wife and I are planning to purchase a flat in Godmanchester and are in fact using a Godmanchester conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Chelsea Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Godmanchester conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Godmanchester solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We are buying a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Godmanchester who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Lloyds . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Godmanchester.
I am selling my home in Godmanchester. Does my lawyer need to be required to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Godmanchester. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Principality be concerned?
As your lender is Principality your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Principality. The CML Handbook contains minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Principality where a lease does not comply with these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not isolated to Godmanchester.
We were going to get a AIP from Nottingham this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Nottingham recommend any Godmanchester solicitors on the Nottingham conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Godmanchester solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Nottingham through the process.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Godmanchester solicitor - who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Godmanchester postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Godmanchester.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Godmanchester before instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks may not issue a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can look into this further with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Godmanchester. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Godmanchester especially if they are familiar with such properties in Godmanchester.
What do I do if I am dissatisfied with the conveyancing practitioner who handled our conveyancing in Godmanchester?
We live in an imperfect world, and unfortunately every so often things do go wrong. However there is recourse if you were dissatisfied with your conveyancing in Godmanchester. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a conveyancing practitioner to their governing body. If you remain dissatisfied you may consider getting in touch with the Legal Ombudsman.