My husband and I are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Welling with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Welling solicitor, however the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to appoint one of the lender panel firms or retain our Welling conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We consider that this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Welling conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Are the Welling conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Co-operative?
Welling conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Co-operative directly.
Do I need to take out insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a house in Welling?
Unless a prior acquisition of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you may expect solicitors delivering conveyancing in Welling to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
How does conveyancing in Welling differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Welling come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because new home sellers in Welling tend to buy 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 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Welling or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Welling. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I inherited a ground floor flat in Welling. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Welling premises is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case was in relation to 1 flat.
Me and my fiance have recently had an offer agreed on a property and had an appointment on Monday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They warned me that when it comes to appointing a lawyer that unless they are on their approved panel of conveyancers then we will be subject to an an additional fee of £200. This is because they would then have to select a property lawyer to act on their behalf in addition to the one we select for ourselves and we are liable for their invoice. I have requested Nationwide to furnish me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved lawyers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?
Ask Nationwide what their criteria for joining their panel is for a conveyancer.Then ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on loans for Nationwide before. If the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with Nationwide. Another option is to make use of our search tool and we should be able to locate a conveyancer in Welling on the approved list for Nationwide.