I am in the process of selling my home in Petersfield and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are changing their property lawyer. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Petersfield ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms 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 buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Petersfield for our house move. Our financial adviser has since advised us that our bank Aldermore won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
Banks tend to restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their member panel. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a law practice must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the profile of firm, a few lenders have decided to limit the number of solicitor practices they allow to act for them. You should note that Aldermore have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Aldermore Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the reduction of solicitor panels a few years ago even though there remains differing opinions regarding the level of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Petersfield only execute a couple conveyances per annum.
My friend recommended that where I am purchasing in Petersfield I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Petersfield conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Petersfield around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Petersfield Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Petersfield.
How does conveyancing in Petersfield differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Petersfield contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because developers in Petersfield tend to purchase 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 conveyancers 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 Petersfield or who has acted in the same development.
Are there any apps to help search for a Petersfield solicitor on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am willing to travel upto 25miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the search on this page. Please pick a bank and your location and you will see a number of Petersfield conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Petersfield conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to see if they are on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society member panel