My wife and I are looking to buy a property in Risca and have appointed a Risca conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Risca lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors 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 property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Risca lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Are the Risca conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the TSB conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by TSB?
Risca conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the TSB conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from TSB directly.
My wife and I are planning on selling our house in Risca and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Risca lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed a factory type conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Risca. Having lived in Risca for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get clarification that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Risca is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Risca are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Risca you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Risca may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Am I better off to choose a Risca conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can deal with the conveyancing however her office is a couple of hundredmiles drive away.
The benefit of a local Risca conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute paperwork, present your identification documents and pester them if necessary. They will also have local knowledge which is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and they were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar Risca conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.