I am not in a position to travel far from South Kensington. I would like to know the reason why all South Kensington solicitors are not on all mortgage company panels?
Lenders point to the fact that solicitor-led fraud is thought to be responsible for millions of pounds of fraud annually.The elimination of law firms from lender panels started with the rise in mortgage fraud, which prompted a thematic review by the Financial Services Authority in 2011. Its outcome included recommendations for lending institutions to review their conveyancing panels, which kicked off a major policy change in the sector. This led to lenders purging less reputable firms off their official list of approved conveyancing practitioners .
Do the conveyancing lawyers that you recommend carry out auction conveyancing in South Kensington?
We know of a number of auction practitioners we can connect you with those conducting auction conveyancing. South Kensington is just one of our locations where our lawyers cover.
Can I use your services to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington even if I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for instance where I wish to acquire a shop in South Kensington with a loan from Coventry Building Society?
The service is primarily there to find residential conveyancing solicitors in South Kensington but we have listed towards the bottom of this page some South Kensington commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to speak with the firm directly to establish if they can also act for Coventry Building Society
A relative informed me that in buying a property in South Kensington there may be a number of restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in South Kensington which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in South Kensington should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We were going to get a OIP from Virgin Money this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Virgin Money recommend any South Kensington solicitors on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?
You will need to appoint South Kensington solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Virgin Money through the process.
I currently have a mortgage with Virgin Money for my property in South Kensington. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. In the event that I decide 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 Virgin Money?
Your original mortgage agreement with Virgin Money will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will allow you to rent 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 Virgin Money directly. You need not do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am buying a new build house in South Kensington benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it will adversely affect my loan with Barnsley Building Society. Is this normal?.
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.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my grandmother I am disposing of a house in Newport but I am based in South Kensington. My solicitor (approximately 235 kilometers from mehas requested that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in South Kensington who can witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are South Kensington based