My wife and I are planning to acquire a flat in Wednesbury and have instructed a Wednesbury conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Wednesbury conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Wednesbury solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
What happens if my solicitor is suspended from the Yorkshire BS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Wednesbury?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
How does conveyancing in Wednesbury differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Wednesbury contact us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because developers in Wednesbury tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Wednesbury or who has acted in the same development.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Wednesbury I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Wednesbury in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
I am 3 weeks into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the estate agent to carry out the conveyancing in Wednesbury. I am am extremely frustrated with the level of service. Can you help me find new lawyers?
A solicitor would need to be very poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been issued? If so you must advise them of the new contact details and get the loan are re-issued. Your new conveyancer needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental fees and frustration. So that should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Wednesbury