Me and my partner are hoping to purchase a 3 bedroom flat in Crayford with a mortgage. We like our Crayford lawyer, however the bank advise he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to appoint one of the bank panel firms or continue with our Crayford lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is unjust; can we not insist that the bank use our Crayford solicitor ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms 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 Crayford conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Crayford for our house move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage lenders Nationwide Building Society won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
A bank will insist on an approved conveyancer act for it. You would be expected to meet the charges for this. Try using our database to select a solicitor to conduct conveyancing in Crayford on the Nationwide Building Society member panel.
I'm the sole beneficiary of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Crayford. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I plan to dispose of the house. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. many banks would take a sensible view as this requirement principally exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Skipton, do Crayford conveyancers face an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I have paid off my mortgage with Lloyds. I assume I don't need a Crayford property lawyer on the Lloyds panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Lloyds mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Lloyds mortgage from the register. Lloyds, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Lloyds has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Lloyds has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Crayford I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Crayford for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
Am I better off to instruct a Crayford conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? An old friend can handle the legal work but his firm is located a couple of hundredmiles drive away.
The benefit of a high street Crayford conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and they were happy that should trump using an unfamiliar Crayford conveyancing solicitor just because they are round the corner.