Me and my partner are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in Fairlop with a mortgage. We like our Fairlop lawyer, however the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Fairlop lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the bank use our Fairlop conveyancer ?
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 Fairlop conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My uncle advised me that in buying a property in Fairlop there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Fairlop which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Fairlop should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Co-operative, do Fairlop solicitors face an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
We are getting the release of further monies on our home loan from TSB as we want to conduct improvements to our house in Fairlop. Are we obliged to select a bricks and mortar Fairlop solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
TSB would not normally require a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the TSB conveyancing panel.
We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Fairlop and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A high street Fairlop lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using an online conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Fairlop. Having lived in Fairlop for six years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
Me and my brother own a renovated Georgian property in Fairlop. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and National Westminster Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking National Westminster Bank to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Fairlop and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
My husband and I are disposing of a Fairlop apartment left to us 5 years ago in 2012. I have over a decades worth of conveyancing know-how and, now retired, wish to carry out my own legal work. The buyer's property lawyer has informed me that their Lenders will not allow us to do our own conveyancing requiring the funds to be transferred to a solicitor's bank account.
Mortgage instructions to conveyancing practitioners from all CML members state that If the seller is not legally represented the borrower's lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be notified so that a decision can be reached if they are prepared to progress.