Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in St Columb is not listed on my bank's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the quality of the firm’s work?
It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly plausible explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator revealed 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the solicitor is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Where you are concerned you should contact the St Columb conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
I have been told by my lawyer that restrictive coveneant insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in St Columb?
The appropriate level of restrictive coveneant indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Lloyds TSB Bank and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
My wife and I are spending time viewing apartments in St Columb and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a solicitor appointed at this point? I am planning to take a home loan with TSB.
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 contact information on to the EA. Given that you are taking out a mortgage with TSB, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the TSB conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in St Columb. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
My colleague advised me that where I am buying in St Columb I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard St Columb conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about St Columb around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the St Columb Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, St Columb Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning St Columb.
Me and my brother purchased a renovated Edwardian property in St Columb. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking The Royal Bank of Scotland to clarify?
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 St Columb and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in St Columb differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in St Columb contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because house builders in St Columb usually purchase the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 St Columb or who has acted in the same development.
I'm refinancing my current house to a BTL loan with Santander and I will use the rest of the raised equity towards another property. The neighborhood we are talking about is St Columb. Will your lawyers be able to act for the two lenders and link together the conveyances?
Make use of our search tool on this page to ensure that the lawyers are approved by both lenders. On the basis that they are the solicitor should be able to connect the two conveyancing matters but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and make apparent your desired outcome and needs.