I am progressing with the sale of my house in Newark and the estate agent has just telephoned to say that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Newark ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the past 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 over 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
My nephew is purchasing a house that has just been built in Newark with a home loan from Co-operative. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
As someone clueless as to the Newark conveyancing process what’s your top tip you can give me concerning the ownership transfer in Newark
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Newark or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the vendor, property agent and even potentially a bank. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Newark is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the process whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your solicitor ahead of all other players when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
is it true that all Newark conveyancing solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. The majority of lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be overseen by the CLC.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Newark. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Virgin Money 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 you are obtaining a mortgage with Virgin Money your lawyer must follow the formal instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease does not comply with these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Newark.
My offer on a semi in Newark has been accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have put an offer on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Newark. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Lloyds?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Newark conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market some home buyers will apply for a home loan with Lloyds and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to move forward with searches.
Me and my brother have a renovated Victorian property in Newark. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Leeds Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Newark and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
Am I better off to instruct a Newark conveyancing solicitor based in the vicinity that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can handle the conveyancing however his firm is located 300miles drive away.
The benefit of a high street Newark conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, deliver your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Newark know how is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and the majority were impressed that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Newark conveyancing lawyer just because they are Newark based.