My husband and I are planning to buy a home in Wormwood Scrubs and have instructed a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Wormwood Scrubs solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Wormwood Scrubs lawyers, 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 Santander mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Wormwood Scrubs with 70% LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Santander ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Santander conveyancing panel, but Santander 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.
My wife and I purchased a renovated Georgian property in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Barclays Direct. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Wormwood Scrubs and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing house to a buy to let mortgage with Barclays Direct and intend to use the remaining equity as a down payment on further house. The neighborhood we are looking at is Wormwood Scrubs. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two banks and link together the transactions?
Make use of our search tool on this page to be sure that the solicitors are approved by both lenders. Having checked that they are the lawyer should be able to tie up the two conveyancing matters but you should have a chat with you solicitor and make apparent your desired outcome and requirements.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Wormwood Scrubs for my home move. Is it possible to see a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?
One may read documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from investigations started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes monitor call for training requirements.