My wife and I are looking to acquire a flat in Southend On Sea and are in fact using a Southend On Sea conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barnsley Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Southend On Sea solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Southend On Sea solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Having spent time scouring mumsnet.com for an online solicitor in Southend On Sea, many post that I must use a CQS accredited solicitor. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in home moving process, trusted by some of the UK's leading banks. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Building Societies Association (BSA). CQS is not a scheme offered by the Council of Licensed Conveyancing. Southend On Sea is one of the many areas of the UK where there are Accredited solicitors.
What will a local search reveal regarding the property I am buying in Southend On Sea?
Southend On Sea conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Searchflow The local search plays a central role in many a Southend On Sea conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data 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 subject areas.
It has been 2 months since my purchase conveyancing in Southend On Sea completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Southend On Sea with a mortgage from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about this deal as it may impact my mortgage with Godiva Mortgages Ltd. Is this normal?.
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.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Southend On Sea before appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can investigate further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Southend On Sea. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Southend On Sea to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.