My family solicitor has given a fee estimate £1200 for leasehold conveyancing in Billingham. I’m hoping to sell a newly refurbished property for £275,000. Are these estimated fees excessive? Is it in excess of what I should be paying for conveyancing in Billingham?
The charges are a little high. If you shop around you could shave off some of the expense by perhaps £125. On the other hand, you couldlive to regret choosing an a cheaper conveyancer. If is important to ensure the conveyancer can act for your lender. Do make use of our search tool to choose a Billingham conveyancing firm on the lender’s member panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Billingham.
It is is a decade since I bought my property in Billingham. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been appointed on the sale but I can't find the deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be retained by the lender or they could be archived with the lawyers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in all probability the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Billingham relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.
My husband and I wish to acquire a 1 bedroom apartment in Billingham with a residential mortgage from Nottingham Building Society.We use our Billingham conveyancing practitioner but Nottingham Building Society advised that his firm is not on their approved list of firms. It seems we have no choice but to instruct a Nottingham Building Society panel lawyer or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will be on the Nottingham Building Society solicitor panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Nottingham Building Society
Is it correct that all Billingham CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the RBS conveyancing panel?
It is true that some lenders now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
When it comes to lenders such as HSBC, do Billingham conveyancers face an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Billingham. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Lloyds?
Your original mortgage agreement with Lloyds will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel lawyer.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Billingham is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Billingham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Billingham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Billingham may decide 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.