Me and my fiance are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Loughborough with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Loughborough lawyer, but the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or retain our Loughborough conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; can we not demand that the bank use our Loughborough lawyer ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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. Another option that might be available is for your Loughborough conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
AssumingI was to buy a freehold housein Loughborough mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much could I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Loughborough?
Any savings you would achieve would be isolated to the costs for searches. The lawyer is required to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, liaising with your sellers lawyer, SDLT return, register the ownership etc. A marginal saving might be made by not needing to register a charge but it won't be significant.
I am in the process of remortgaging my house in Loughborough, does my lawyer have to be on the Yorkshire BS Solicitor panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel, but Yorkshire BS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.
We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Loughborough and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. Any high street Loughborough conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a web based conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Loughborough. We have lived in Loughborough for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek confirmation need.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
I'm buying my first flat in Loughborough with a mortgage from Coventry Building Society. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it may put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the lender approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.