My wife and I are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in Felpham with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Felpham solicitor, but the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to use one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Felpham conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the mortgage company use our Felpham lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer 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 Felpham conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Will conveyancers ask for money up-front for my conveyancing in Felpham?
If you are buying a property in Felpham your solicitor will ask you place them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Generally this is requested to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is as part of the purchase price then this should be required immediately ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due should be transferred shortly before completion.
I am considering applying for a Leeds Building Society mortgage for purchase of a newly converted (under development) in Felpham with 70% loan to value. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Leeds Building Society ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel, but Leeds Building Society would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Felpham before instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will not grant a loan on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with 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 Felpham. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Felpham and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Felpham. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Felpham area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Felpham. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found