December mortgage approvals up

The number of new mortgages approved for home buyers picked up slightly in December, says the Bank of England. There were 31,000 mortgage approvals, up from 27,000 in November, but still the second lowest figure on record. At the same time, HM Revenue & Customs said that property sales were picking up. But lending and industry experts have warned that banks are still short of money and mortgage lending is still likely to decline. Over the whole of 2008, lending slumped by 58%, with just 519,000 home loans approved, compared with 1,250,000 in 2007.

Paragon snaps up broker firm

Paragon has snapped up the remaining shares in the specialist buy-to-let broker The Business Mortgage Company (TBMC).

In its Interim Management Statement, the firm confirmed it had acquired the remaining 67% of the "strategically important" mortgage broker.

In January 2007, the lender supported the purchase of TBMC by its management, providing facilities of £15.75m and receiving 33% of the equity in the business.

Having suffered during the downturn, TBMC is now likely to report a loss for the year, so Paragon has agreed to temporarily suspend interest payments on its loan in exchange for the remaining equity.

Lowest Price Guaranteed

We believe that our conveyancing quotes are the lowest to be found on the World Wide Web in relation to conveyancing transactions undertaken in England and Wales.  In the event that you find a lower quote on the Web, please contact us and we will endeavour to beat that price. 

 

For further information please refer to our Lowest Price Guarantee terms and conditions – go

 

Lowest price Guarantee – Terms and Conditions

 

We undertake regular price checks in order to ensure that our conveyancing quotes are the most competitive on the World Wide Web.  Our research only relates to a number of competitors which we have identified as being the most competitive in today’s Web Market place.

 

Many web service providers provide conveyancing quotations which contain hidden fees.  Their conveyancing quotes therefore appear to be competitive whilst the reality is quite different.

 

Price comparison – Should you wish to provide us with a conveyancing quote that you have obtained via the World Wide Web, we confirm that we will compare that quote with our Convey Quote. Where possible we will endeavour to offer an alternative Convey Quote in order to ensure that our lowest price guarantee is maintained.  Please note that our service providers do have a threshold they will not work below and hence our guarantee is limited by the ability of our service providers to undertake your conveyancing transaction at the price quoted.

 

Throughout the course of our quote comparison procedure we will highlight the intricacies of all quotations that we have made or you have received in this respect.  We will highlight to you the difference between basic conveyancing fees, disbursement charges and additional fees which may be levied in relation to your property transaction.  We will at all times endeavour to provide you with the most competitive conveyancing quote in today’s market place.

 

Please note that our Convey Quote encompasses a basic fee for conveyancing work.  This basic fee is defined in our Panel Lawyers’ terms and conditions.  Additional work will be charged for at prescribed rates as specified in our Panel Lawyers’ terms and conditions should additional work be required in relation to your conveyancing transaction.  Should you require sight of our Panel Lawyers’ terms and conditions prior to instructing us please do not hesitate to contact us in this respect.

 

What do you do if you find a more competitive quote?  Please e-mail the alternative quote to us on email address so that we may contact you in this respect.  Our New Business team will endeavour to provide you with a competitive Convey Quote in accordance with our Lowest price Guarantee, if at all possible.  We prefer to make contact with you over the telephone in the first instance so that we may explain the intricacies of the comparison quote and the Convey Quote that we  provide.  Thereafter our New Business team will be able to provide you with a new written Convey Quote, if appropriate.

 

Should you require any additional information in this respect please do not hesitate to contact us.

Blog entry by Convey365

Home Information Pack Searches

 

You will be aware that the property that you are purchasing may have a Home Information Pack (HIP) available.  Certain properties may not have a HIP, due to the timescales from when they were initially marketed and subsequently sold. 

 

The HIP pack will include a Local Search and a Drainage Search as well as other documentation.

 

In certain circumstances the searches in the HIP pack cannot be utilized.  Such circumstances would be when:

 

1. The Searches are in excess of 4 months old at the time of your instruction.  Conveyancing searches are very important documents that need to be undertaken contemporaneously with your transaction, failing which the information contained within the searches may have changed.
2. The supplier of the HIP pack is not HIP Code Regulated.  Many HIP Providers are not regulated and are not insured.  We can not therefore confidently rely on the information that they produce.

 

In order to avoid any unnecessary delay to your transaction we would recommend that you undertake fresh searches as soon as possible.  A typical search pack, which will include an up to date Local, Drainage and Environmental Search, will cost approximately £249.00.  We undertake search packs via personal search agents in order to ensure the speed of their return, accuracy and price guarantee.  In the event that you would like us to undertake your searches via the Local Authorities direct please provide us with your written instructions in this respect. 

 

We would also advise you to take the benefit of our Chancel Repair Block Insurance Policy which is available to all of our clients at a cost of £20.00.  The policy will cover your property against any ancient Chancel tithes that may be tied to the property and is considerably cheaper than undertaking a Chancel Search.   

 

By ordering fresh searches we can ensure that both you and your mortgage lender (if applicable) are fully protected and fully advised of any issues affecting the property prior to proceeding to an exchange of contracts. 

 

In the event that you do not want us to order fresh searches on you behalf the following process will need to be followed:-

 

1. Please inform us immediately in writing that you do not wish us to undertake fresh searches on your behalf.  By writing to us in this respect you are confirming that you are aware of the dangers of relying on searches provided by third parties and indemnifying us against any and all consequential losses resulting from your actions. 
2. It must be ascertained whether the HIP provider is HIP Code Compliant and if not fresh searches will have to be ordered on your behalf in any event.
3. Upon receipt of the HIP, the searches will be reviewed and the search results will be referred to any mortgage lender for them to confirm that they are happy for us to rely on them.
4. In the event that your mortgage lender confirms that they require fresh searches to be ordered, mortgage monies will not be released by your mortgage lender until such time as the fresh searches are to hand..

 

You will appreciate that this course of action may be detrimental to your transaction due to the additional time that it will take to ascertain whether the searches are satisfactory and more importantly, the delay in ordering and receiving your fresh search results.

 

We would respectfully suggest that you instruct us to order to order a fresh search pack on your behalf immediately. This course of action will ensure that you are fully advised in relation to the property, with up to date information obtained on your behalf and not provided by third parties.

 

We would like to order fresh searches on your behalf as early as possible in the transaction – as soon as we are in receipt of contract papers from your Seller’s Solicitors and your payment on account of searches.

 

Should you have any questions in this regard please do not hesitate to contact us.

Blog entry by Convey365