My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a flat in North London and are in fact using a North London conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our North London solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance 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 solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own North London solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Our lawyer has discovered a defect with the lease for the property we are buying in North London. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must check that the mortgage company is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their specifications for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the bank are the client. These conveyancing instructions have to be complied with.
We see that you have a search directory listing law firms on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I instruct them for our conveyancing in North London?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in North London.
I purchased my flat on 1 January and the transaction details is not yet registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in North London said it would be formalised in less than a month. Are properties in North London particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in North London registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry need to notify any 3rd parties. At present roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed within 12 days but occasionally there can be longer hold-ups. Historically registration takes place after the buyer is living at the premises therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I'm buying my first flat in North London with a mortgage from Aldermore. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
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.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in North London before appointing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in North London. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in North London to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.