My husband and I are planning to acquire a flat in Purfleet and have instructed a Purfleet conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Purfleet lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Purfleet solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Purfleet what would it be?
Do not opt for the lowest Purfleet conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I am purchasing a end of terrace house in Purfleet. Our aim is to convert the garage to a playroom at the house.Will the conveyancing process involve investigations to ascertain if these works were previously refused?
Your solicitor should review the registered title as conveyancing in Purfleet will occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which prevent certain works or necessitated the permission of a 3rd party. Some works require local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.
Planning on purchasing a apartment in Purfleet. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Purfleet conveyancing practitioner is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
What does a local search reveal about the property we're buying in Purfleet?
Purfleet conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations such as Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Purfleet conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.
I'm buying my first flat in Purfleet with a mortgage from Accord Mortgages Ltd. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about the side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Purfleet in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will not grant a loan on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can investigate further with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Purfleet. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.