Much to our surprise we have been notified by our lender that my Splott the law firm I have appointed is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. What can I do to be sure that this is correct?
Your first step should be to call your Splott lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to inform you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a Splott conveyancing firm that is on the conveyancing panel for your lender.
How up to date is your database of Splott solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel? Do Santander send you an updated list?
Splott conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Santander directly.
Will our lawyer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Splott.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Splott. There are those who acquire a property in Splott, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the buyer or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Splott. The standard property information forms given to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard question of the vendor to determine if the premises has ever been flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading answer. The purchaser’s conveyancers should also conduct an enviro report. This should higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be carried out.
4 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Splott took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 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 residence 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.
My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the selling agent advised that the seller will only go ahead if we use their preferred lawyers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Splott
We suspect that the seller is unaware of this request. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine purchaser is counter productive. Contact the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to appoint your own,trusted Splott conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothe ones that will earn the estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing figures set by HQ.
My husband and I recently found out that one of the directors of the law firm handling the purchase conveyancing in Splott is related to the owners that we are purchasing from. Is this allowed?
As long as no conflict arises this is allowable. Where you are obtaining a mortgage then the lender may have a say as many lenders have specific instructions on this. For example for Barclays plc as of 18/4/2024, the requirements read as follows :