I was notified yesterday by my lender that my Hillingdon the law firm I have appointed is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. How can I check?
Your first step should be to contact your Hillingdon conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Hillingdon conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.
My husband and I are refinancing our flat in Hillingdon with HSBC. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of HSBC had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
It is is a decade since I bought my home in Hillingdon. Conveyancing solicitors have now been retained on the sale but I can't locate the title deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be kept by your mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who handled the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Hillingdon relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The lender mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel conveyancer as I would prefer to appoint a specialised conveyancing solicitor in Hillingdon?
Do check but the the likelihood is that give you one of their panel solicitors if you accept the "fee-free" deal. Contact the mortgage company to explore if they allow a monetary alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor near Hillingdon.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called my Hillingdon bank branch on various occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Hillingdon conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
The conveyancer has to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 conditions 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 remaining.
Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Hillingdon solicitor - who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Hillingdon surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Clydesdale have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Hillingdon has been accepted, what are the next steps?
The property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s panel). Telephone Clydesdale or the broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Clydesdale will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to book a time for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Clydesdale will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Hillingdon.
How does conveyancing in Hillingdon differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Hillingdon contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Hillingdon 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 used to new build conveyancing in Hillingdon or who has acted in the same development.