My husband and I are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Norton with a mortgage. We like our Norton solicitor, but the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or keep our Norton conveyancer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We consider that this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you 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 Norton conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My lawyer in Norton is not on the Birmingham Midshires Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my prefered solicitor even though they are not on the Birmingham Midshires panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Norton solicitors but Birmingham Midshires will need to use a lawyer on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing charges and result in delays.
- Find a new solicitor to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Convince your lawyer to use their best endeavours to join the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel
How does conveyancing in Norton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Norton come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because developers in Norton tend to acquire 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 Norton or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and found one close by in Norton I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Norton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
My folks cant seem to find their Norton property on the HM Land Registry site. They recall that 50 years ago when they bought the property there were complications with the address not being identified on some systems.
The vast majority of premises in Norton should appear. Have you tried a search to simply the postcode. Normally it should identify all the houses and flats within that postcode. Where recorded it will show up with a title number. Where they bought back in the 70’s it's conceivable it may be unregistered. The property might still be revealed but with the title number shown 'na'. In this scenario you will need to locate the original title deeds which might be with your parent’s lender.