My wife and I are looking to acquire a home in Markyate and have appointed a Markyate conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays Direct have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Markyate conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Markyate lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am about to exchange on the purchase of a property in Markyate but as a consequence of damage from some water damage at the property I have managed to agree compensation from the owner of £3k taking the form of a deduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of a side agreement but HSBC will not permit this. Why were they approached?
The property lawyer being on a HSBC conveyancing panel is duty bound to advise HSBC of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your conveyancing practitioner to report the reduction to HSBC then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, HSBC and you would have to appoint a new solicitor for your conveyancing in Markyate.
My partner and I are selling our property in Markyate and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Markyate conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used an online conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Markyate. Having lived in Markyate for many years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You need to enquire of 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 health insurance to cover that same ailment)
I'm purchasing my first flat in Markyate with a mortgage from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this extras as it could put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Markyate is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Markyate are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Markyate you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Markyate may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of Markyate solicitors? How do you know who is on the bank conveyancing panel?
Markyate law firm practices and firms conducting conveyancing in Markyate themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the bank directly.