National Counties Building Society Conveyancing Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
My husband and I are buying a 1 bedroom flat in London with a mortgage from National Counties Building Society. We like our solicitor but National Counties Building Society says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the National Counties Building Society panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the National Counties Building Society 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. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for National Counties Building Society
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company National Counties Building Society will not agree to this. Why was National Counties Building Society even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform National Counties Building Society of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to National Counties Building Society then they would have to discontinue acting for you and National Counties Building Society.
How do I find a local solicitor on the National Counties Building Society 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 National Counties Building Society solicitor panel.
My grandmother passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor was left the property. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to National Counties Building Society , pay off the mortgage etc. Is this possible?
If you intend to re-mortgage then National Counties Building Society will insist on your using a conveyancer on the National Counties Building Society 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 National Counties Building Society 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 National Counties Building Society mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Are all conveyancing solicitors on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
Hi, thinking about buying a house off my mate. Assuming we can agree a figure, what’s the best way to proceed? I plan to obtain a mortgage with National Counties Building Society. Is it possible to avoid using solicitors to save on the costs? My dad reckons back in the day he did a lot of it himself, just went into the land registry office and providing them with the info they needed himself
If you are getting a mortgage with National Counties Building Society involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to National Counties Building Society. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel.
National Counties Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up National Counties Building Society or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. National Counties Building Society will tell you what documents they want. National Counties Building Society will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. National Counties Building Society will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.