We are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Barnes with a mortgage. We have a Barnes solicitor, but the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little option but to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or retain our Barnes and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We consider that this is inequitable; are we not able to require that the lender use our Barnes ?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 Barnes conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Barnes? Why is this being asked of me?
It is indeed that case that the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Barnes. Nowadays you can not complete any conveyancing deal in the absence handing over proof of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a bank statement. Please note that if you are providing your driving licence as proof of identification it needs to be both the paper part and photo card part, one is not satisfactory without the other.
Evidence of your source of funds is necessary under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your conveyancing solicitor will need to have this information on file. Your Barnes conveyancing lawyer will need to see evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any funds from you into their client account and they should also ask further queries regarding the source of funds.
My uncle passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Barnes. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to , pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you plan to re-mortgage then will require that you use a conveyancer on the conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I have been told that property searches are the main cause of obstruction in Barnes house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Barnes.
We're new to the buying process - agreed a price, yet the property agent advised that the vendor will only move forward if we appoint the agent's chosen solicitors as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Barnes
We suspect that the seller is not behind this demand. Should the seller want ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine purchaser is counter productive. Contact the owners directly and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to use your preferred Barnes conveyancing lawyers - as opposed tothe ones that will provide their estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing targets demanded by HQ.