My partner and I are hoping to purchase a house in Cowfold and are in fact using a Cowfold conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Cowfold solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard 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 Quality 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Cowfold solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Please help. My Cowfold lawyer is informing me me that she is duty bound toconduct Cowfold conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Nat Westapproved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook specifications . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Cowfold conveyancing searches.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Cowfold costs more?
Cowfold leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
What does a local search inform me concerning the property we're purchasing in Cowfold?
Cowfold conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search is essential in every Cowfold conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.
I was pointed in your direction by a few selling agents in Cowfold to choose a property lawyer using your seach tool. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers ahead of a competitor’s?
We refuse to make any commission for directing people our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.