I am in the process of selling my house in Great Sankey and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are swapping law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Great Sankey ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms 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 buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Great Sankey? Is this really necessary?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering laws require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to check the identity of the potential client they are dealing with prior to agreeing to accepting their conveyancing instruction. The Client Care letter that you are required to sign will no doubt stipulate this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be viewed. Should you refuse to supply ID verification documents, your lawyer would not be able to accept instructions from you.
Is there a list of Barclays panel solicitors in Great Sankey on the Building Society Association’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such directory service on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online. Where you are seeking to appoint a Great Sankey conveyancing practitioner on the Barclays please use our facility.
The mortgage over my property is with Santander for my property in Great Sankey. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Santander?
Santander must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Santander’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 Santander directly. You need not do this via a Santander conveyancing panel lawyer.
Our offer on a property in Great Sankey has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have put an offer on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Great Sankey. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Santander?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey, Great Sankey conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Santander approved list. Concerning the next steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a hot market the majority of buyers would apply for a home loan with Santander and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their property lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Great Sankey.
Me and my brother have a renovated Edwardian property in Great Sankey. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and National Westminster Bank. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Great Sankey and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
We're first time buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the agent advised that the owners will only move forward if we instruct the agent's chosen solicitors as they want an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Great Sankey
We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. If they want ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated buyer is counter productive. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to use your own,trusted Great Sankey conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthe ones that will earn the estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by head office.