My wife and I are hoping to acquire a house in Headingley and have appointed a Headingley conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Headingley lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Headingley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a search tool with a view to list law firms on the Melton Mowbray Building Society conveyancing panel for instance in Headingley?
We have not been informed any plans on the part of the BSA to develop such a tool.
This question may be naive but I am new to the home buying as FTB of a ground floor flat in Headingley. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Headingley?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I am expecting a OIP from Skipton this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Skipton recommend any Headingley solicitors on the Skipton conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Headingley solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Skipton conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Skipton through the process.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Headingley. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
I'm buying a new build house in Headingley with a mortgage from Barclays . The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about this extras as it would affect my mortgage with the lender. 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.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Headingley prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor has said that some banks will not grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can check via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Headingley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Headingley to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I bought a property in Headingley last 5/3/2025 and to date it is still not registered with HMLR. It was part of a new estate and my lawyer told me that it can take twelve months to register. I have spoken with HM Land Registry directly and they say that the original application was cancelled due to questions not being addressed in time. What can I do?
get in touch with your property lawyer - if you are not getting sensible responses, enquire as to their firm’s complaints protocol and amplify your concerns to a Complaints Manager. Registrations for Headingley conveyancing are not known to be particularly slow.