My Conveyancer in Somersham is not on the Santander Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to retain my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Santander panel?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Somersham solicitors but Santander will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional overall conveyancing charges as well as result in frustration.
- Choose an alternative solicitor to to deal with the conveyancing, remembering to check they are Santander approved.
- Persuade your Santander solicitor to seek to join the Santander panel
What will a local search tell me regarding the property I am purchasing in Somersham?
Somersham conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations such as Searchflow The local search plays an important role in most Somersham conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.
I have justbecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Somersham for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I check that the property is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest method to see if the property is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Somersham conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Somersham differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Somersham contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because builders in Somersham usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Somersham or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Somersham before retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders will not grant a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Somersham. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Somersham to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
My son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. After the seller agreed the offer on the apartment we called the bank to progress the mortgage application. We were very surprised to learn that mortgage lenders do not accept all conveyancer, they need to be on their approved list, is this legal?
Lenders ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Somersham property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.