My husband and I are hoping to buy a house in Alvaston and have instructed a Alvaston conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Alvaston conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Alvaston lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of delay in Alvaston conveyancing transactions. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Alvaston.
How does conveyancing in Alvaston differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Alvaston come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because builders in Alvaston typically 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 Alvaston or who has acted in the same development.
How difficult is it to switch conveyancer as I need to choose one who is on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. I had appointed a family conveyancing solicitor in Alvaston five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by The Royal Bank of Scotland
It would be our pleasure to help you select a conveyancing solicitor in Alvaston on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we on the directory do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Alvaston. Using search facility on this site, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Alvaston.
My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Alvaston. I need to find out if they are on the lender's conveyancing panel. Can you advise?
You should contact the solicitor to check if they are on the bank's approved list. Alternatively please call us and we can make some checks for you. Should the firm not be on the bank panel we can certainly arrange a quality conveyancing solicitor in Alvaston on the panel for your lender.