Me and my fiance are planning to purchase a 1 bedroom apartment in Kenton with a mortgage. We have a Kenton conveyancer, however the mortgage company says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel firms or retain our Kenton solicitor and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; are we not able to demand that the mortgage company use our Kenton conveyancing practitioner ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Kenton conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
At what point does exchange of contracts happen for purchase conveyancing in Kenton and do I need to be at the conveyancers office?
If you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Kenton you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. However, the lender approved solicitors we recommend offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give as equally diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you electronically. The signing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the firm to address the formalities when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Kenton)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
Does a directory service exist listing UBS panel conveyancers in Kenton on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings open the public on the web. If you are seeking to appoint a Kenton conveyancing practitioner on the UBS please make the most of our tool.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Kenton. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. UBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is UBS your lawyer must check the formal requirements set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to UBS where a lease does not comply with these conditions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Kenton.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Kenton. My financial adviser suggested a lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.
A colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Kenton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Kenton conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Kenton around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Kenton.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Kenton?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Kenton. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
How does conveyancing in Kenton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Kenton contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because house builders in Kenton tend to buy the land, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Kenton or who has acted in the same development.