My wife and I are hoping to buy a house in Bangor and have appointed a Bangor conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Bangor conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property requiring 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 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bangor solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We were going to get a DIP from Lloyds this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Lloyds recommend any Bangor solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?
You will need to appoint Bangor solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Lloyds through the process.
It is not clear whether my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Bangor bank branch on a couple of occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Bangor conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Your property lawyer has to comply with the CML Handbook section two specifications for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
About to purchase apartment in Bangor. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Bangor property lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
My colleague advised me that where I am buying in Bangor I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Bangor conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Bangor around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bangor Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Bangor Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Bangor.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Bangor is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Bangor are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Bangor you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bangor may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
We are 18 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the high street agent to handle our conveyancing in Bangor. I am am extremely dissatisfied with the quality of service. Can you help me find new solicitors?
A conveyancer would have to be very bad in order to consider changing them. Has the mortgage been issued? In the event that it has you will need to inform them of the replacement lawyer and ensure the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid added fees and complications. That should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool can help you find a lender approved conveyancer for your conveyancing in Bangor