My wife and I are planning to buy a property in Stoke Sub Hamdon and have appointed a Stoke Sub Hamdon conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nationwide Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Stoke Sub Hamdon lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Stoke Sub Hamdon solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the TSB Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Stoke Sub Hamdon?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Stoke Sub Hamdon. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Stoke Sub Hamdon of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one close by in Stoke Sub Hamdon I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Stoke Sub Hamdon in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a property in Swansea but live in Stoke Sub Hamdon. My lawyer (based 235 kilometers from mehas requested that I sign a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Stoke Sub Hamdon who can witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Stoke Sub Hamdon