My wife and I are planning to acquire a house in Bridport and are in fact using a Bridport conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Bridport solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bridport solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (five years built) in Bridport. The vast majority the properties have already been occupied. Is it strictly necessary to order local searches for my conveyancing in Bridport?
If you are acquiring a property with the assistance of a loan, your bank will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Bridport conveyancing searches are optional. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you choose to instruct your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to switch to another solicitor for your conveyancing in Bridport.
I moved into my apartment on 9 February and my personal details is yet to be registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Bridport expressed confidence that it will be registered inside ten days. Are titles in Bridport particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in Bridport is concerned, registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of England and Wales. Rather than based on location, timescales can differ according to the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry communicate with any third parties. Currently approximately 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be protracted delays. Historically registration takes place once the purchaser is living at the property so an expedited registration is not always primary concern but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Bridport ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Bridport. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Bridport especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Bridport.
We are 14 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the local agent to handle our conveyancing in Bridport. We are not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
They would have to be really bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been issued? In the event that it has you must inform them of the replacement lawyer and get the offer are re-sent. Your conveyancer needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid added fees and complications. So that should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The search tool will help you find a bank approved conveyancer for your conveyancing in Bridport