My fiance and I are planning to buy a flat in Ickenham and have instructed a Ickenham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Leeds Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Ickenham solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit 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 Accreditation 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 Ickenham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
IfI were to acquire a simple residential propertyin Ickenham for cash and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Ickenham?
The sole saving you would make on is the costs for searches. A conveyancer is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, communicating with your vendors property lawyer, SDLT return, register the ownership etc. A slight saving might be made by not having to register a charge however it won't be a lot.
My father advised me that in buying a property in Ickenham there may be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Ickenham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Ickenham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is it correct that all Ickenham CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the HSBC conveyancing panel?
Some major banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their panels.
We had chosen conveyancers locally in Ickenham on the Clydesdale solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate fee for dealing with the Clydesdale mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Clydesdale?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor is entitled to levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Clydesdale but by your Ickenham solicitor. Some firms on the Clydesdale panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
A relative suggested that where I am buying in Ickenham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Ickenham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Ickenham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Ickenham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Ickenham.
I am buying a new build house in Ickenham with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about this deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with Nottingham Building Society. Is this normal?.
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.
What is the reason for my solicitor requiring various items of ID before they can commence with my conveyancing in Ickenham?
Ickenham conveyancers are required by the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority, HMLR and current Money Laundering Regulations to certify that the have verified the identity of their clients. It is also sometimes a condition of your lender where you are obtaining a mortgage. In addition they have to complete various forms, particularly those relating to Land Tax and need to have information such as your full names, national insurance number and DOB.