My fiance and I are looking to acquire a house in Swanscombe and are in fact using a Swanscombe conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Swanscombe solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Swanscombe lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We had instructed conveyancers based in Swanscombe on the Leeds Building Society solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further sum for dealing with the Leeds Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Leeds Building Society?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Leeds Building Society but by your Swanscombe lawyer. Some firms on the Leeds Building Society panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from RBS as we intend to carry out renovations to our house in Swanscombe. Are we obliged to select a nearby Swanscombe solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
RBS don't usually require a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the RBS conveyancing panel.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Swanscombe solicitor - who is on the RBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Swanscombe surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I am buying my first flat in Swanscombe with a loan from Chelsea Building Society. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my conveyancer about this deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
My company is wishing to take over a lease of a shop on a shopping parade. Can you recommend lawyers offering no-move-no fees for commercial conveyancing in Swanscombe for under £1,200?
We can recommend firms who have an in-depth of experience of commercial conveyancing in Swanscombe, including the disposal and acquisition of businesses as well as simply premises. If you are intending to buy or lease a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a complete business we will find you the right solicitor. Regarding the costs this will depend on the structure and heads of terms of the proposed transaction. Let us have your contact information or email us so that we may furnish you with a detailed commercial conveyancing calculation.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my father I am selling a property in Newport but reside in Swanscombe. My conveyancer (based 235 kilometers from meneeds me to execute a statutory declaration ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Swanscombe to attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are located in Swanscombe