My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Sidmouth and have appointed a Sidmouth conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Sidmouth lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal 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 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Sidmouth lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and have to leave my rented property in Sidmouth by 14/10/2025. Conveyancing for my house purchase is progressing. Can I complete in 5 weeks as don't want to have to move into temporary accommodation?
The normal practice is not to provide notice on a rental unless your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not previously done so, update to your conveyancer and request that they chase the sellers side, try to get a realistic time scale from them that all parties will look to achieve
We are buying a flat in Sidmouth. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? On the day of competition we have to send money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Sidmouth 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
Our offer on a property in Sidmouth has been accepted, the owners do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The sellers have placed an offer on on an apartment, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Sidmouth. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Barclays?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Sidmouth conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Regarding the next phase this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market many buyers will apply for a home loan with Barclays and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their property lawyer to proceed with searches.
I am buying a house and the conveyancer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair for which the property may be liable as it falls into the area of such a church. She has mentioned insurance. Is this really necessary for conveyancing in Sidmouth
Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you may assume that solicitors conducting conveyancing in Sidmouth to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I'm buying my first flat in Sidmouth with a loan from Lloyds TSB Bank. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about this deal as it may impact my mortgage with Lloyds TSB Bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Sidmouth I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Sidmouth suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan that many years may be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.