Just contacted my conveyancing lawyer in Colchester who acted for me 18 months ago and wanted a conveyancing costs illustration based on an identical type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold property and a freehold property) of almost identical values with a mortgage from Santander. It looks as though am now being charged double. Stick with what I know or should I try and find a cheaper online firm of conveyancing solicitor?
The charges appear a bit high. Where you are happy to expend time comparing quotes you might reduce the fees slightly by perhaps £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, assuming were content with the service the firm offered you maycome to regret opting for an an unknown conveyancer. Remember to enquire the firm can also act for Santander. You can make use of our search tool to choose a Colchester conveyancing firm on the Santander approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Colchester.
It is is a decade since I bought my property in Colchester. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find the deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Colchester involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
My home in Colchester is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will the conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.
My husband and I have arranged the release of further funds on our home loan from Principality as we want to carry out renovations to our house in Colchester. Do we need to select a bricks and mortar Colchester solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Principality don't usually require a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality conveyancing panel.
The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore for my property in Colchester. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Aldermore?
Your original mortgage agreement with Aldermore will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Aldermore directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Colchester. Conveyancing was satisfactory 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 Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of hinderance in Colchester conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Colchester.