I am not in a position to travel far from Bradford. Is there a reason why all Bradford lawyers are not on all bank panels?
Even though it may seem unfair for lenders to limit who can represent them, from the public’s or conveyancer’s standpoint, the flip side is that lenders are increasingly anxious and regard it necessary to shield themselves against mortgage fraud. As a result of this concern banks are limiting their panel of approved conveyancing lawyers to a size that they are happy to control.
My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Bradford with Nottingham. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Nottingham conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Nottingham 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 Nottingham. This is solely used to protect Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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 am in the process of mortgaging my property in Bradford, does my lawyer have to be on the Yorkshire BS Conveyancing panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel, but Yorkshire BS 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 conveyancing matter.
Me and my partner are purchasing a property in Bradford. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we will need to send our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
Can you point me to a directory of HSBC panel conveyancers in Bradford on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
No. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings visible online. Where you are looking for a Bradford solicitor on the HSBC please make the most of our facility.
Our sealed bid on a detached house in Bradford has been accepted, the vendors do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The owners have put an offer on a flat, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Bradford. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Skipton?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Bradford conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Skipton approved list. Regarding the next steps this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market the majority of home buyers would apply for a home loan with Skipton and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their conveyancer to press on with searches.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Bradford I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bradford for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you need a home loan that many years may be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.