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approved by Penrith BS
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Penrith BS list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Find an Approved Solicitor on the Penrith Building Society Conveyancing Panel
Frequently asked questions relating to the Penrith Building Society Conveyancing Panel
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Penrith Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors 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 solicitors should contact Penrith Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Penrith Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment with Penrith Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Penrith Building Society .This is solely used to protect the Penrith Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Penrith Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I require the services of a Penrith Building Society panel solicitor in Inverness. Can you assist?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Penrith Building Society panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Penrith Building Society to find out which solicitors in Penrith Building Society are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site
I was scheduled to complete on my dream home two days ago. My lawyer’s firm is on the Penrith Building Society solicitors panel but has moved offices 8 weeks ago and had not informed Penrith Building Society of their new address. Penrith Building Society is now refusing to release my funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is a rare situation indeed. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Penrith Building Society branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
How can we tell if a solicitor on the Penrith Building Society panel is any good?
Getting recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor conducting your transaction
I am buying a property where the roof has a solar panel. Penrith Building Society have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Penrith Building Society your lawyer must to check the Penrith Building Society conveyancing instructions contained in the Part of CML Handbook for Penrith Building Society . The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Penrith Building Society where a lease does not meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales. The CML are developing guidance for Northern Ireland and Scotland.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having made sure that they are on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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I've read lots of mortgage guides,I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Penrith Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Penrith Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey.
You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
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Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Penrith Building Society you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.