My wife and I are looking to buy a house in Harefield and are in fact using a Harefield conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Midshires have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Harefield lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Harefield lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Please could you vouch for a Clydesdale approved Harefield conveyancing firm that can complete within under 3 weeks? Would it be better to use a local Harefield conveyancer or a national firm?
We would be happy to suggest some excellent Harefield conveyancing firms. Another option is to visit the high street in Harefield. Visit a couple of law practices and ask to speak with a conveyancing solicitor for a fee estimate. Explain your deadline together with your reasons and ask for a commitment on speed. Select the lawyer that you trust.
My wife and I own a terraced Edwardian house in Harefield. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Alliance & Leicester . I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Harefield and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
Am I best advised to instruct a Harefield conveyancing solicitor based in the location that I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the conveyancing but his firm is located 300kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Harefield conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute documents, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and the majority were impressed that must surpass using an unknown Harefield conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being based in the area.
Why can't I complete our conveyancing in Harefield on a public holiday?
Because on completion the money will be transferred electronically between the banks of the purchaser and owner’s property lawyer and at present this can only take place on a working day. It is not possible to complete on a saturday or sunday either.