My wife and I are planning to acquire a flat in Shanklin and are in fact using a Shanklin conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. HSBC Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Shanklin solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Shanklin lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
It is 10 years ago since I acquired my home in Shanklin. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been retained on the sale but I can't track down the title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by your lender or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Shanklin involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it is more of a problem but is not insurmountable.
A friend informed me that in purchasing a property in Shanklin there could be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Shanklin which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Shanklin should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Shanklin. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the property lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Clydesdale panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Shanklin on 7/3/2024, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer appointed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nottingham and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Are Nottingham entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Nottingham to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
A relative recommended that if I am buying in Shanklin I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Shanklin conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Shanklin 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 demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Shanklin Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Shanklin.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Shanklin is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Shanklin are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Shanklin you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Shanklin may decide 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 property.