I am nearing exchange of contracts for my house in Lifton and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Lifton ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
I am under pressure from the seller of a property in Lifton to complete within four weeks. What can I do to expedite matters?
In the event that you are under time constraints for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will have local contacts and knowledge. It is possible that they could have conducted previoushouses in the same neighbourhood. Therefore consider using a Lifton conveyancing firm. Second, be sure that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is believed that nearly one in five of Lifton conveyancing transactions are suspended or derailed after discovering a purchaser’s conveyancer was not on their mortgage lender’s list of approved solicitors. In many cases this discovery resulted in the buying process being delayed by as much as three weeks. It is understood that this issue impacts in the region of one hundred thousand home sales every year. Most Lifton conveyancing practices can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check as early as possible.
My apartment in Lifton is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will the solicitor need to be required to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Virgin Money 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 requirements fairly frequently currently.
When it comes to lenders such as Lloyds, do Lifton property lawyers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Nationwide. Lifton conveyancing solicitors have been selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Nationwide?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Nationwide conducted the valuation? Have you advised Nationwide as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I'm in the process of viewing houses in Lifton and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with UBS.
It would be sensible to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with UBS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Lifton?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Lifton. 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…’
My partner and I are acquiring a ground floor flat in Lifton. At the time of instructing our lawyer, we were told they were on all mainstream mortgage company panels. Our financial adviser emailed yesterday to say that they are not on the Leeds Building Society approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Should we simply pick a different property lawyer that is on their approved list or do we cover the costs for dual representation, with Leeds Building Society appointing their own preferred property lawyer.
Where you are acquiring a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the buyer’s lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancer has to satisfy. Some building societies now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your conveyancer should call Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Lifton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.