Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in Marks Gate is not on my lender's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of the firm’s work?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly plausible explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should simply call the Marks Gate conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.
I'm the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Marks Gate. The Marks Gate property was put into my name in December. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. Most mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this clause primarily exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Marks Gate. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the property lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I have instructed a Marks Gate property lawyer having made sure that they are on the UBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
UBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually UBS 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. Your conveyancer 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 your Marks Gate postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with UBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Marks Gate.
I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Marks Gate in advance of appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders tend not give a mortgage on this type of house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Marks Gate. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Marks Gate especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Marks Gate.
Is it simple use your search app to get a costs illustration from a conveyancing solicitor in Marks Gate on the approved list for my bank?
Step one is to select a mortgage company such as Halifax, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society or TSB then specify your location e.g. Marks Gate. Conveyancing practices in Marks Gate and beyond should be shown.
My wife and I are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Marks Gate. When we first instructed lawyer, they assured us that they were on all major UK lender panels. Our financial adviser emailed today to advise that they don't appear to be on the Lloyds approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Do we just choose a different lawyer that is on their panel or should we cover the costs for separate representation, with Lloyds selecting their own approved conveyancer.
When acquiring a property with mortgage finance 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 solicitor has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the property lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the property lawyer has to meet. Some mortgage companies now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your conveyancing practitioner should contact Lloyds 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 Lloyds's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Marks Gate solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another property lawyer into the equation.