My fiance and I are looking to acquire a home in Bishopsworth and are in fact using a Bishopsworth conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Bishopsworth conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bishopsworth solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Our solicitor has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Bishopsworth. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our says that he must check that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Should our conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Bishopsworth.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Bishopsworth. There are those who purchase a house in Bishopsworth, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their solicitors which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Bishopsworth. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual inquiry of the vendor to discover whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser could issue a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading reply. A buyer’s solicitors should also carry out an enviro report. This should disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be carried out.
It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in Bishopsworth completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I'm remortgaging my primary house to a buy to let mortgage with and intend to use the remaining equity towards further property. The location we are looking at is Bishopsworth. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and tie in the two deals?
Do use our comparison tool on this site to be sure that the lawyers are approved by both banks. Having checked that they are the conveyancer should be able to simultaneously deal with the two transactions but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and communicate your expectations and requirements.