My wife and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Carlisle and are in fact using a Carlisle conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Carlisle lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 and you may continue to use your own Carlisle solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am hoping to move into my new home in Carlisle next Monday. My conveyancer now wants me to supply her with proof of content and building insurance for the property as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?
All property lawyers on acting for mortgage companies would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions. These requirements are not specific to conveyancing in Carlisle.
How does conveyancing in Carlisle differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Carlisle contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because new home sellers in Carlisle typically acquire the real estate, 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 used to new build conveyancing in Carlisle or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Carlisle ahead of appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to issue a mortgage on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Carlisle. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Carlisle to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I have been pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Carlisle to find a solicitor using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your site rather than a competitor’s?
We don’t offer any commission for sending work to this site. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.