My husband and I are hoping to acquire a property in Southend On Sea and have appointed a Southend On Sea conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Southend On Sea solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Southend On Sea solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am considering applying for a Aldermore mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Southend On Sea with 65 per cent LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Aldermore ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel, but Aldermore would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
We are aiming to move home in October. Does my conveyancing solicitor communicate with the removal company on the completion day. Incidentally, can you recommend a removal company in Southend On Sea. Conveyancing solicitor was chosen prior to coming across your site.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to collect the keys from your estate agent but this should only take place after the vendors solicitors inform the agent that the monies to complete are in and the keys can be given over. After that you can tell the removal men that you are ready to move in. We are not in a position to suggest a specific removal company but can assist you in locating a residential property solicitor in Southend On Sea or a firm that specialises in conveyancing in Southend On Sea.
My wife and I are spending time viewing apartments in Southend On Sea and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it sensible to have my property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Nationwide.
It would be sensible to instigate your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Nationwide, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Southend On Sea lawyer on the HSBC panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your HSBC mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
4 months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Southend On Sea took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. 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 asset 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.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Southend On Sea I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Southend On Sea for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.