I am six weeks into the sale of my home in Seascale and the EA has just text me to warn that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Seascale ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some 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. The purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
Last August we completed a house move in Seascale. We have noticed several issues with the house which we believe were missed in the conveyancing searches. Is there anything we can do? Can you clarify the nature of searches that needed to have been ordered for conveyancing in Seascale?
It is not clear from the question as to the nature of the problems and if they are relate to conveyancing in Seascale. Conveyancing searches and due diligence initiated as part of the buying process are carried out to help avoid problems. As part of the process, a property owner answers a document referred to as a Seller’s Property Information Form. answers ends up being misleading, then you may have a claim against the seller for any losses that you have suffered. The survey should have identified any problems with the structure of the property. Assuming a detailed survey was carried out and the issues were not identified, you may have a claim against the surveyor. However, if you did not have a full survey, you may be responsible for fixing any defects that have now been noted. We would always encourage buyers to take every possible step to ensure they are completely aware of the condition of a property before purchase regardless of whether they are buying in Seascale.
I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to appoint their panel conveyancer as I would prefer to instruct a Seascale based conveyancing firm?
Do check but the the likelihood is that allocate you one of their panel conveyancers where you accept the "fee-free" incentive. Contact the mortgage company to check if they offer you a monetary alternative. In the past a few mortgage companies offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Seascale.
We are purchasing a detached bungalow in Seascale. The intention is to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will legal due diligence on the property include checks to ascertain if these alterations are permitted?
Your property lawyer will review the registered title as conveyancing in Seascale can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of changes or require the consent of a 3rd party. Many additions call for local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Some areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.
is it true that all Seascale conveyancing solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the practice would be regulated by the CLC.
We previously appointed conveyancers based in Seascale on the UBS solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate charge for handling the UBS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by UBS?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by UBS but by your Seascale conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the UBS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some firms include it on their overall fee.
My wife and I have a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Seascale. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and HSBC Bank. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Seascale and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Seascale with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it could put at risk my loan with Skipton Building Society. 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.