Please help. My Plympton conveyancer is informing me me that he is legally obliged toconduct Plympton conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Santandersolicitor panel. Is my solicitor right?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a bank your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your property lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Plympton conveyancing searches.
We are selling our flat in Plympton. Does the conveyancer have to be required to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently in recent years.
I am assisting my niece sell her flat in Plympton. Will the conveyancer order an energy assessment or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates remained a required component of moving house. An energy performance certificate needs to be commissioned before the property is advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a Plympton conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established Plympton accredited person
My lawyer has informed me that missing deeds insurance is required on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Plympton?
The right level of missing deeds indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Barclays and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
We previously selected conveyancers based in Plympton on the Barclays solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional sum for dealing with the Barclays mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Barclays?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner can charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Barclays but by your Plympton solicitor. Some firms on the Barclays panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.
I own a semi-detached Victorian property in Plympton. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and TSB. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Plympton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I'm refinancing my current property to a BTL loan with Barclays Direct and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on another house. The area we are looking at is Plympton. Will your lawyers be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and link together the two deals?
Do use our search tool on this page to check that the lawyers are on the relevant lender panels. Assuming that they are your conveyancer will be able to tie up the two transactions but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and make apparent your desired outcome and requirements.