My husband and I are planning to acquire a 1 bedroom flat in Kemp Town with a mortgage. We have a Kemp Town lawyer, but the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have no option but to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or retain our Kemp Town property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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. Another option that might be available is for your Kemp Town conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My property lawyer in Kemp Town is not on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Godiva Mortgages Ltd approved list?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your existing Kemp Town solicitors but Godiva Mortgages Ltd will need to use a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall conveyancing charges and result in delays.
- Get a new lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are Godiva Mortgages Ltd approved.
- Persuade your Godiva Mortgages Ltd based solicitor to attempt to join the Godiva Mortgages Ltd panel
What can a local search reveal about the house I am purchasing in Kemp Town?
Kemp Town conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Searches UK The local search plays an important part in many a Kemp Town conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (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 subject sections.
I am buying my first flat in Kemp Town with a loan from Nationwide Building Society. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep told me not inform my lawyer about this extras as it could put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
When it comes to my conveyancing in Kemp Town should I be paying VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee
(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Kemp Town conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the solicitor's time in submitting the funds this way.