I am nearing exchange of contracts for my home in Wedmore and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are switching conveyancer. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Wedmore ?
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 Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say 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. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of Wedmore conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel?
Wedmore conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Leeds Building Society directly.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Nottingham Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Wedmore?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of stalling in Wedmore house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Wedmore.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Wedmore I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Wedmore suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my grandmother I am selling a residence in Newport but I am based in Wedmore. My lawyer (based 250 miles awayrequires that I execute a stat dec ahead of completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Wedmore to witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Wedmore based