I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Spondon and the EA has just text me to advise that the buyers are switching law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Spondon ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.
Lenders justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
What is the best way to check that the solicitor handling my conveyancing in Spondon is on the bank’sapproved panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Clydesdale thus spending £175.00 in additional conveyancing invoice.
You should take advantage of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this page. Pick the lender and type ‘Spondon’ or your location and you will discover a number of lawyer located in Spondon or nearest you.
My wife and I purchased a terraced Georgian house in Spondon. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Spondon and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in Spondon differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Spondon come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because house builders in Spondon tend to acquire the site, 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 used to new build conveyancing in Spondon or who has acted in the same development.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Spondon ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some banks will refuse to issue a loan on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Spondon. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Spondon especially if they are familiar with such properties in Spondon.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Spondon. I've land on a site which appears to be the perfect offering If there is a chance to get all this stuff done via email that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?