My wife and I are hoping to buy a flat in Rishton and have appointed a Rishton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Nottingham Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Rishton lawyer 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rishton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Finally the sale completed on my house in Rishton last May but the buyer keeps whats apping me to say their lawyer needs to hear from mine. What should have happened now that I have sold?
Post completion of your sale your solicitor is obliged to deliver the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been discharged to the buyers lawyers. There is unlikely to be post completion steps just for conveyancing in Rishton.
My Conveyancer in Rishton is not on the Barclays Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my family solicitor even though they are not on the Barclays panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Rishton lawyers but Barclays will need to instruct a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall legal charges and cause delays.
- Choose an alternative solicitor to to deal with the purchase, obviously checking they are on the Barclays panel
I happen to be the sole beneficiary of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Rishton. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in May. I want to move. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in May. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. Most lenders would take a pragmatic view as this obligation is principally there to pick up on subsales or the flipping of property.
We previously appointed conveyancers located in Rishton on the Skipton solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate amount for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Skipton?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Skipton but by your Rishton solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Skipton panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.
How can we tell if a Rishton conveyancing solicitor on the Principality panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Rishton obtaining recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor conducting your conveyancing.
What does a local search inform me about the property we're purchasing in Rishton?
Rishton conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for example Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Rishton conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic sections.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Rishton I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Rishton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you need a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.