I am in the process of selling my apartment in Shirebrook and the estate agent has just text me to advise that the buyers are swapping solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Shirebrook ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose 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 impact on this.
I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to use their panel conveyancer as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Shirebrook?
Do check but the the probability is that appoint one of their panel lawyers where you accept the "fee-free" deal. Call the lender and check if they offer you a cash alternative. Some banks have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor near Shirebrook.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as a first time buyer of a ground floor flat in Shirebrook. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Shirebrook?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to receive the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs early afternoon.
The mortgage over my property is with Clydesdale for my property in Shirebrook. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Clydesdale?
Your original mortgage agreement with Clydesdale will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Clydesdale’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Clydesdale will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Clydesdale directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Shirebrook conveyancer having checked that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Shirebrook postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Shirebrook.
I am buying my first flat in Shirebrook benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the deal as it will jeopardize my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Shirebrook 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Shirebrook conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
A small minority of properties in Shirebrook do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
Shirebrook Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing
-
Where a Shirebrook lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are happy with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Shirebrooklease extensions you will need to own the premises for a couple of years before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension. The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders.
What tools are available to find a Shirebrook conveyancing solicitor on the lender conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Shirebrook and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Shirebrook. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the lender solicitor panel.