Me and my fiance are hoping to purchase a 3 bedroom flat in Yatton with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Yatton solicitor, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our Yatton conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We feel that this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
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. Another option that might be available is for your Yatton conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We're in Yatton, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is RBS , and our lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
We are purchasing a property and the lawyer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair to which the property could be liable given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has recommended insurance. Is this strictly necessary for conveyancing in Yatton
Unless a previous acquisition of the house took place post 12 October 2013 you could assume that lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Yatton to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I own a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Yatton. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be 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 Yatton and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
I have been recommended by numerous estate agents in Yatton to select a solicitor using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your site over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.