My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a house in North Acton and are in fact using a North Acton conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer 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 there is now an issue as our North Acton conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred North Acton lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Barclays are being pedantic. The North Acton solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Barclays are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays 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 was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Co-operative. Is it usual for Co-operative to only issue the offer once my solicitor in North Acton is approved on their conveyancing panel? Co-operative have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Co-operative to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local North Acton solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own North Acton surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Should our lawyer be asking questions about flooding during the conveyancing in North Acton.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in North Acton. Some people will buy a property in North Acton, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in North Acton. The standard information sent to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual inquiry of the owner to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the owner, then a buyer may issue a legal claim for losses as a result of such an inaccurate reply. The purchaser’s solicitors may also conduct an environmental report. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be conducted.
I have justfound out that Wolstenholmes have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in North Acton for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to check if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of North Acton conveyancing specialists.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one near me in North Acton I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in North Acton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I have been pointed in your direction by a number of estate agents in North Acton to select a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers ahead of another?
We refuse to make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.