My wife and I are planning to acquire a 1 bedroom apartment in Richmond Upon Thames with a mortgage. We have a Richmond Upon Thames solicitor, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Richmond Upon Thames solicitor as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the lender use our Richmond Upon Thames conveyancer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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. A further alternative is for your Richmond Upon Thames conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My husband and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Richmond Upon Thames with TSB. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the TSB conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your TSB conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of TSB had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
My wife and I are buying a apartment in Richmond Upon Thames. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we will need to send our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Richmond Upon Thames
Do not opt for the lowest Richmond Upon Thames conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. 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 have a mortgage with Nottingham for my property in Richmond Upon Thames. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Nottingham?
You must advise Nottingham prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nottingham will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel lawyer.
It has been four months since my purchase conveyancing in Richmond Upon Thames took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Richmond Upon Thames in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will refuse to grant a mortgage on such a home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Richmond Upon Thames. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.