My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Banbury and are in fact using a Banbury conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Banbury conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 Banbury lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Banbury for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Platform Home Loans Ltd won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
Pre- 2008 most banks had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. Almost all Banbury conveyancing firms would have been on most lender panels. The financial services regulator in 2010 carried out a thematic review into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, mortgage companies have regularly sought more information from law firms concerning their operations and their employees and establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum volume of transactions. Many Banbury conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Banbury is amongst the many locations where the conveyancers we list are are authorised to act for Platform Home Loans Ltd.
What will a local search reveal about the house my wife and I purchasing in Banbury?
Banbury conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Searchflow The local search plays a central part in many a Banbury conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.
How do I identify a Banbury solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the facility on this website. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Banbury conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Banbury conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can ring them to check if they are on the TSB panel
I am hoping to acquire a repression property in Banbury and the vendor require completion within a week. Do lawyers complete in this timeframe? Am I best advised to select a high street Banbury firm or an online conveyancer that advertises to offer speedy conveyancing?
Attend your Banbury shopping parade. Go in to two or three companies and request to talk to a conveyancing solicitor for an estimate. Set out your needs and try and obtain assurances on time frames. Appoint the one that seems most trustworthy. Make sure to use a property lawyer on the list of property lawyers approved by your bank.