Q and A’s regarding the Kensington Mortgage Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
Much to my surprise I have been told by my lender that my the law firm I have appointed is not on the Kensington Mortgage Solicitor panel. What can I do to be certain that this is indeed the case?
The best course of action for you to take is to contact your conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for Kensington Mortgage.
My husband and I are refinancing our apartment with Kensington Mortgage. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Kensington Mortgage .This is solely used to protect the Kensington Mortgage if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Kensington Mortgage had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
How do I find a local solicitor on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Kensington Mortgage solicitor panel.
I am in the process of mortgaging my property does my lawyer need to be on the Kensington Mortgage Conveyancing panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor but Kensington Mortgage will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Kensington Mortgage panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in month 6 but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Kensington Mortgage are being problematic. The solicitor who is on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Kensington Mortgage are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kensington Mortgage have a conveyancing panel of they don’t accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kensington Mortgage have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kensington Mortgage may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing correctly and safely installed. It merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having made sure that they are on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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Having read lots of mortgage guides,I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Kensington Mortgage conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Kensington Mortgage will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kensington Mortgage 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 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.
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Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Kensington Mortgage you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.