I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Holland Park and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are changing their solicitor. The reason given is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Holland Park ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
Can your site be used to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Holland Park even where I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for instance if I intend to buy an office in Holland Park with a loan from ?
Our comparison service is mainly utilised to get a quote from domestic conveyancing solicitors in Holland Park but we have listed at the bottom of this page some Holland Park commercial conveyancing firms. You should enquire with the company directly to establish if they can also act for
Is it the case that all Holland Park solicitors on the conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the CLC.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with . Holland Park conveyancing lawyers are chosen. How long does it take for to forward the offer to the ?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have done the survey? Have you advised as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with . I assume I don't need a Holland Park on the panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the mortgage from the register. , and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Holland Park in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to issue a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Holland Park. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
The conveyancers undertaking our conveyancing in Holland Park has sent papers to review that indicate that the land is unregistered with epitome documents. How can it be that the property not yet recorded at HMLR?
Although most properties in Holland Park are now registered with HM Land Registry there are still some that remain unregistered. Any property in Holland Park that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Holland Park property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Holland Park conveyancing lawyers should be capable of dealing with such matters but if any uncertainty prevails the conventional guidance these days appears to be for the vendor’s solicitor to register it first and subsequently deal with the dispose of the property to the purchaser - this will have a knock on effect to cause a drawn-out transaction.