My wife and I are hoping to acquire a house in Cathays and are in fact using a Cathays conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Cathays lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard 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 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 Cathays 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.
The housing market in Cathays is hotting up. What can be done to speed up the legal process?
First, If the seller is applying a tight deadline to sign contracts it is advisable to make sure that your solicitor is familiar with the area as they will have local connections and knowledge. It is possible that they would have conducted otherproperties in the same neighbourhood. You would be best advised to use a Cathays conveyancing solicitor. In addition, double check that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is said that just under twenty per cent of Cathays conveyancing deals are suspended or jeopardised after finding out that a purchaser’s conveyancer was not on their banks list of approved solicitors. This can often result in the home move being held up by an average of 21 days. It is believed that this issue impacts approximately 100,000 home sales annually. Almost all Cathays conveyancing practices can not act for certain lenders so do check as early as possible.
Completed the sale of my flat in Cathays last November yet the purchaser is whats apping me to moan that their conveyancer needs to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
Following your house sale your conveyancer is obliged to deliver the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures just for conveyancing in Cathays.
I decided to have a survey completed on a property in Cathays in advance of retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may refuse to give a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Cathays. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Cathays to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I am selling my home. My previous conveyancers have shut. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in Cathays if that makes a difference.
Please use our search tool to help you choose a solicitor for your conveyancing in Cathays. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs with a minimum of fuss.