My fiance and I are looking to buy a property in New Beckenham and have appointed a New Beckenham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our New Beckenham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own New Beckenham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am downsizing from our house in New Beckenham and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using an internet conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in New Beckenham. Having lived in New Beckenham for many years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
How does conveyancing in New Beckenham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in New Beckenham contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in New Beckenham tend to purchase the land, 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in New Beckenham or who has acted in the same development.
I am downsizing from my home. My former solicitors has retired. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in New Beckenham if that affects matters.
Please use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in New Beckenham. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with lender approved solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs smoothly.
Our bank agreed in principle to grant us a mortgage. We appointed a long established conveyancer in New Beckenham two days ago. This morning, our broker phoned to advise us that the bank said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their 'approved list'. As novices, we had no idea that the mortgage company had a say Is this allowed?
You are at liberty to instruct any lawyer you want to select for your conveyancing in New Beckenham but if your bank aren't happy with them you must incur additional cost so your bank can retain their own lawyers. On occasion it is conceivable that your preferred conveyancing firm to get added to the lender list of approved firms. You can use online tools including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in New Beckenham on the lender panel. You can go into your local bank branch in New Beckenham. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in New Beckenham on the panel for your mortgage company.