My partner and I are hoping to purchase a flat in West Hill and are in fact using a West Hill conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our West Hill conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred West Hill lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Do the conveyancing practitioners identified via your search tool handle auction conveyancing in West Hill?
We know of a few auction practitioners we can put you in touch with those conducting auction conveyancing. West Hill is one of hundreds of locations where our lawyers cover.
Do lenders provide you with an approved list of West Hill conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the conveyancing panel?
West Hill conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from directly.
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial premises in West Hill and how can you help?
The 1954 Act affords a safeguard to business leaseholders, giving them the right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds where a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. West Hill is one of our many areas of the UK in which the firms we work with are located
Is it best to appoint a West Hill conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? We have a good friend who can perform the conveyancing but they are based 400miles away.
The benefit of a local West Hill conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, present your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were content that should outweigh using an unfamiliar West Hill conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.