My wife and I are planning to acquire a flat in Kidbrooke and are in fact using a Kidbrooke conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Kidbrooke 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' 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 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kidbrooke solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Kidbrooke?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Kidbrooke your lawyer will ask you put them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is as part of the total price then this should be required immediately before exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due will be payable a couple of days prior to the completion date.
Is it necessary to take out insurance to cover chancel repairs when purchasing a property in Kidbrooke?
Unless a previous purchase of the house completed after 12 October 2013 you can expect solicitors conducting conveyancing in Kidbrooke to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
How does conveyancing in Kidbrooke differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Kidbrooke come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because house builders in Kidbrooke usually acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Kidbrooke or who has acted in the same development.
Should I go with a Kidbrooke conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? I have an old university friend who can deal with the conveyancing but they are based 200miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Kidbrooke conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and the majority were content that should trump using an unfamiliar Kidbrooke conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.