My partner and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Clophill and have instructed a Clophill conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Clophill solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors 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 bank 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Clophill lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
About to place a bid on a leasehold property in Clophill. The selling agents tell me that it is usual for flats in Clophill to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am getting a mortgage with Platform. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has Seventy One years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 22/9/2023 the requirements read as follows :
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Yorkshire BS, do Clophill conveyancing practitioners face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Virgin Money. Clophill conveyancing lawyers were chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Virgin Money?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Virgin Money completed the survey? Have you informed Virgin Money as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Clophill solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Clophill postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Clophill.
A relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Clophill I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Clophill conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Clophill around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Clophill Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Clophill.
Me and my wife have just had an offer accepted on a property and had meeting on Friday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They advised us that when it comes to choosing a conveyancing practitioner that if they are not on their approved panel of property lawyers then we will incur an additional fee of £200. This is is due to the fact that they will then have to instruct a solicitor to act on their behalf as well as the one we choose to act for ourselves and we are liable for their fees. I have asked Nationwide to furnish me with a list so I can request quotes only from their approved lawyers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a list online?
Ask Nationwide what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the lawyer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on mortgages for Nationwide in the past. If the answer to those is yes, then just double check with Nationwide. Alternatively please make use of our search facility and we should be able to find you a conveyancing practitioner in Clophill on the panel for Nationwide.