My partner and I are hoping to acquire a house in Totterdown and have instructed a Totterdown conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Virgin Money have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Totterdown conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where 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 lender 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 Totterdown lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I can see plenty of information on this site about conveyancing in Totterdown but can you isolate your top tip for selecting the right conveyancer in Totterdown
Do not opt for the lowest Totterdown conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you pay 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.
We are purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Totterdown. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal work on the property involve enquiries to ascertain if these alterations are allowed?
Your solicitor should review the registered title as conveyancing in Totterdown will occasionally reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain works or need the permission of another owner. Many works need local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be sensible to check these things with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.
Is there a list of Virgin Money panel conveyancers in Totterdown on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few banks make their panel listings available on the web. If you are seeking to appoint a Totterdown lawyer on the Virgin Money please make the most of our tool.
My colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Totterdown I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Totterdown conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Totterdown 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 type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Totterdown.
How do I identify a Totterdown law firm on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am willing to travel upto 20miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the tool on this page. Please select a lender and your location and you will see a number of Totterdown conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Totterdown conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to verify if they are on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel
Am I best advised to choose a Totterdown conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can conduct the conveyancing but they are based a couple of hundredmiles drive away.
The primary upside of using a high street Totterdown conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Totterdown know how is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and on the whole were impressed that must outweigh using an unknown Totterdown conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.