My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a home in Stansted and are in fact using a Stansted conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Stansted solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Quality 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Stansted solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My aunt passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Stansted. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to HSBC, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you intend to refinance then HSBC will insist on your using a conveyancer on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the HSBC mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
A friend pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Stansted there may be various restrictions preventing external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Stansted which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Stansted should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is there a list of Coventry BS panel solicitors in Stansted on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings available online. If you are looking for a Stansted conveyancing practitioner on the Coventry BS please make the most of our facility.
We had instructed solicitors with offices in Stansted on the Santander solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a supplemental fee for handling the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Santander?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Santander but by your Stansted solicitor. Some firms on the Santander panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
We are purchasing a property and the lawyer has referenced Chancel Repair for which the house may be obligated to contribute to as it falls into the area of such a church. She has mentioned insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in Stansted
Unless a previous acquisition of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you may assume that lawyers conducting conveyancing in Stansted to continue to recommend a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Stansted?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Stansted. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I'm remortgaging my existing home to a BTL loan with Coventry Building Society and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a deposit on further property. The location we are talking about is Stansted. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two banks and link together the transactions?
Make use of our search tool on this site to check that the solicitors are approved by both mortgage companies. Having checked that they are the conveyancer should be able to connect the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you conveyancer and communicate your expectations and requirements.