Me and my partner are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Rush Green with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Rush Green conveyancer, but the bank advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Rush Green property lawyer and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We regard this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Rush Green conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Rush Green costs more?
The conveyancing charges on a leasehold property in Rush Green is inevitably greater when contrasted to a freehold transaction. This is due to the extra work required in communicating with the landlord and managing agents to obtain information about whether the rent and service charges have been discharged and whether there are any major works due in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
We had chosen conveyancing lawyers located in Rush Green on the Kent Reliance solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee for handling the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to levy a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Kent Reliance but by your Rush Green conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Kent Reliance panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Rush Green property lawyer on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your RBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
It is unclear whether my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Rush Green bank branch on a couple of occasions and was told it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Rush Green conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
The lawyer must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two provisions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when purchasing a residence in Rush Green? or Apparently there is historic law that means some homeowners living in a parish church boundary will be compelled to pay for maintenance towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this applicable for conveyancing in Rush Green?
Unless a prior purchase of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you may take it that lawyers handling conveyancing in Rush Green to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
How difficult is it to switch solicitor as I have to select one who is on the Halifax conveyancing panel. I instructed a family conveyancing solicitor in Rush Green five minutes from me but he is not approved by Halifax
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in Rush Green on the Halifax panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we on the directory do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are registered with the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Rush Green. Using the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can scrutinise charges for conveyancing solicitors in Rush Green and throughout England and Wales.
My 20yr old son is embarking on her first house purchase, he had his mortgage in principle. After the offer was accepted on apartment we called the mortgage company to move forward with his. We were very surprised to learn that mortgage companies do not accept all property lawyer, they must be on their panel, is this correct?
Banks tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Rush Green conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.