My husband and I are looking to acquire a property in Billesdon and have instructed a Billesdon conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Billesdon solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 lawyers to represent them. 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 Billesdon lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Are the BSA planning on creating a search tool with a view to list solicitors on the conveyancing panel for instance in Billesdon?
We are not aware of any intention on the part of the BSA to promote such a tool.
My colleague suggested that where I am purchasing in Billesdon I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Billesdon conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Billesdon around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Billesdon Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Billesdon Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Billesdon.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Billesdon before instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to give a mortgage on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions from Nationwide. If you call us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Billesdon. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Should I go with a Billesdon conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? An old friend can handle the legal formalities however her office is a couple of hundredkilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Billesdon conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute documents, deliver your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and the majority were content that must surpass using an unfamiliar Billesdon conveyancing solicitor just because they are Billesdon based.