I am nearing exchange of contracts for my home in Upton Park and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Upton Park ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, 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 worked with them for more than 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices 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. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
I am buying a property without a mortgage in Upton Park. I have resided for the last dozen years in Upton Park. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then the vast majority of the Upton Park conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but he is duty bound to take that path of encouragement . One thing to bear in mind; if you are intend to dispose of the house at a future date, it could be of relevance to your future buyer what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where houses with day to day issues can still reveal detrimental search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Upton Park should be able to give you some constructive guidance in this regard.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Upton Park is more expensive?
Upton Park leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving applicable notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
My property lawyer in Upton Park is not on the Aldermore Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Aldermore panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your preferred Upton Park solicitors but Aldermore will need to retain a solicitor on their panel. This will result in additional overall conveyancing fees and cause delays.
- Get a new lawyer to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the Aldermore panel
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one near me in Upton Park I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Upton Park in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
My friend mentioned that when choosing a conveyancing solicitors they must be approved by your mortgage company. This is my first home move but I have an AIP with Birmingham Midhshires and I already have a local conveyancing solicitor in Upton Park at the ready. Can Birmingham Midhshires insist on an approved lawyer to be instructed? If so, where do I find that list so I can pick a conveyancing lawyer in Upton Park?
You should choose a solicitor that is on the Birmingham Midhshires panel. Simply ring your chosen Upton Park conveyancing solicitor and ask if they are on the Birmingham Midhshires panel. If they are not on the panel you have numerous choices available to you here:
- Proceed with your existing Upton Park solicitor but Birmingham Midhshires will need to use a lawyer on their approved panel. This will result in additional fees together with potential interruption.
- Choose a fresh solicitor to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the Birmingham Midhshires conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to apply to join the lender panel.
