I am progressing with the sale of my apartment in Morpeth and the estate agent has just text me to say that the buyers are switching conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Morpeth ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say 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. The purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
Would the conveyancing solicitors identified via your search tool carry out conveyancing in Morpeth by way of an attended exchange?
We do have a number of conveyancing experts carrying out attended exchanges. You should contact us to get a conveyancing quote and details as to dates.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a 1st time buyer of a ground floor flat in Morpeth. Do I receive the keys to the premises on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Morpeth?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be invited to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I have been told by my solicitor that missing deeds insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Morpeth conveyancing?
The right level of missing deeds indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, RBS are being a right pain. The Morpeth solicitor who is on the RBS conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but RBS are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do RBS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that RBS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why RBS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Morpeth. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Morpeth of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Morpeth with a loan from The Mortgage Works. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not disclose to my lawyer about this deal as it would put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 are your top tips when it comes to finding a Morpeth conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Morpeth conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you talk with several firms including non Morpeth conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be of use:
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If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason? What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?
Leasehold Conveyancing in Morpeth - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying
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Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? Many Morpeth leasehold properties will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually in instalments during the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive. It would be a good idea to find out if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Morpeth leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Morpeth. If you like the propertyin Morpeth yet your dog is not allowed to move with you then you have a very difficult decision.