My fiance and I are hoping to buy a house in Clare and have appointed a Clare conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Clare conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Clare lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We were just about to sign contracts for a freehold house in Clare. We encountered a stumbling block. Our loan offer with Bank of Ireland expires on 21/9/2026 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 23/9/2026. Can one extend the loan expiry date?
The person best placed to deal with your question is your conveyancer who is in a position to calculate whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage company, owner’s lawyers, estate agents or indeed all parties taking into account the circumstances your house move to date.
It has been 3 months following my purchase conveyancing in Clare completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £180,000. 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 premises 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.
How does conveyancing in Clare differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Clare approach us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because developers in Clare tend to purchase the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Clare or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Clare I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Clare in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Clare for my house move. Is there any facility to check a solicitor's complaints history with the profession’s regulator?
Anyone can search for presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes recorded call for training reasons.