My husband and I are planning to buy a property in Small Heath and have instructed a Small Heath conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Small Heath conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Small Heath lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are about to exchange contracts for a property in Small Heath. We encountered a problem. Our loan offer with Bank of Ireland expires on 18/11/2022 but the sellers are insisting on a completion date of 22/11/2022. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to address this issue is your conveyancer who will hopefully determine whether he or she is better off negotiating with the lender, owner’s solicitors, property agents or indeed all parties based on what has happend in your transaction to date.
We're in Small Heath, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Nationwide , and our solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Small Heath conveyancing practitioners incur a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any bank fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
We previously chose conveyancers located in Small Heath on the Skipton solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a separate charge for dealing with the Skipton mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Skipton?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by Skipton but by your Small Heath conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the Skipton panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.
I have instructed a Small Heath conveyancer having checked that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander 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 lawyer 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 Small Heath postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Small Heath.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Small Heath I like with open areas and station nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Small Heath in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
There are a lot of houses in Small Heath on unadopted roads. We are acquiring one such property. What would be the pros and cons of buying a property on a private road?
Small Heath conveyancing practices are used to dealing homeson unadopted roads. The property lawyer will investigate title to find any rights or responsibilities. It is possible that there is a management company (wholly owned by residents) that proprietors pay into for the upkeep of the road. If there is one, the road should be maintained and appear nicer than council adopted.