Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in South London is not identified on my mortgage company's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her work?
It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly reasonable explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should contact the South London conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.
The South London conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in South London have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my preferred South London lawyer was not. I paid them funds in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
We expect to receive a DIP from Santander this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Santander recommend any South London solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint South London solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Santander conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Santander through the process.
My fiancee and I are at the point of viewing apartments in South London and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland.
You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the selling agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have a mortgage with Nationwide for my property in South London. Conveyancing has been completed 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 Nationwide?
You must advise Nationwide prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nationwide’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Nationwide directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Nationwide conveyancing panel firm.
What will a local search inform me regarding the house we're purchasing in South London?
South London conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for example PSG The local search is essential in every South London conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (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 thirteen topic areas.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in South London before appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders will not give a loan on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in South London. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in South London especially if they are accustomed to such properties in South London.
We are 14 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in South London. I am not happy. Could you help me find new solicitors?
A solicitor would need to be very bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has your loan offer been issued? In the event that it has you must inform them of the new contact details and have the loan are issued to the new lawyers. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks panel to avoid escalating fees and delays. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. The find a solicitor tool will help you find a bank approved lawyer for your home move in South London