My fiance and I are looking to buy a home in Shard End and have appointed a Shard End conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Chelsea Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Shard End conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual 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 bank 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 and you may continue to use your own Shard End solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I'm the single recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Shard End. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in June. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be affected by that. Some banks would take a sensible view as this obligation is primarily there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Shard End. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Leeds Building Society have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Leeds Building Society your lawyer must follow the conveyancing requirements contained in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Leeds Building Society. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Leeds Building Society where a lease fails to comply with these conditions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Shard End.
Intending to buy a flat in Shard End. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Shard End property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
Will our solicitor be making enquiries about flooding during the conveyancing in Shard End.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers conducting conveyancing in Shard End. Plenty of people will buy a property in Shard End, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or by their lawyers which will figure out the risks in Shard End. The conventional set of property information forms sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard inquiry of the seller to find out if the property has ever been flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer may commence a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading response. A purchaser’s conveyancers may also commission an environmental report. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be made.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Shard End?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Shard End. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Is it best to appoint a Shard End conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can carry out the legal work however they are based 300kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Shard End conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Shard End know how is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were happy that should trump using an unfamiliar Shard End conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Shard End based.
Our estate agent has recommended their solicitor for our conveyancing in Shard End - won’t it be better to just instruct them?
You need to establish if the selling agent is recommending a solicitor or introducing to a lawyer. There are plenty of Shard End selling agents who recommend two or three Shard End conveyancing firms and get nothing from it.