My husband and I are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in Brockley with a mortgage. We have a Brockley solicitor, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to use one of the mortgage company panel firms or continue with our Brockley property lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Brockley conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
A friend informed me that in buying a property in Brockley there may be various restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Brockley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Brockley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
My fiancee and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Brockley and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a conveyancing practitioner in place at this stage? I am planning to take a home loan with Leeds Building Society.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are taking out a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
RBS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Brockley has been accepted, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will wish to be informed of your conveyancer's details (be sure the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Telephone RBS or the financial adviser and finish off any outstanding forms. RBS will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to arrange a time for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days to get a mortgage offer. RBS will issue the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Brockley.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Brockley?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Brockley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Brockley is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Brockley are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Brockley you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Brockley may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
I'm refinancing my current house to a BTL loan with National Westminster Bank and intend to use the remaining equity as a down payment on a second house. The neighborhood we are interested in is Brockley. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two lenders and tie in the transactions?
Make use of our search tool on this page to check that the solicitors are on the relevant lender panels. Assuming that they are your conveyancer will be able to simultaneously deal with the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you conveyancer and specify your desired outcome and requirements.