Please help. My Harlington solicitor is assuring me that she is duty bound toapply for Harlington conveyancing searches resulting from the fact thatthe firm are on the Lloydssolicitor panel. These Harlington checks cost a lot of money can this be avoided?

Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a home loan with a mortgage company your has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Harlington conveyancing searches.

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Harlington? Is this really warranted?

You are right in the requirement set out by your solicitor has nothing to do with conveyancing in Harlington. However these days you can not complete any conveyancing deal without first supplying evidence of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a bank statement. Remember if you are providing your driving licence as proof of ID it must be both the paper element and photo card part, one is not satisfactory in the absence of the other.

Proof of the source of monies is necessary under Money Laundering Regulations. Don’t be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer must have this information on record. Your Harlington conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any money from you into their client account and they should also ask further questions regarding the source of monies.

My lawyer has informed me that lack of building regulations insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Harlington conveyancing?

The right level of lack of building regulations indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between and . Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.

Is it the case that all Harlington CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the conveyancing panel?

Some major banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Harlington. My financial adviser suggested a . I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the 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 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.

My relative advised me that if I am purchasing in Harlington I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Harlington conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Harlington around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Harlington Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Harlington Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Harlington.

Me and my wife have recently had an offer accepted on a apartment and had meeting on Monday with the Post Office for the mortgage. They advised me that when it comes to choosing a that unless they are on their approved list of then we will have to pay out a further fee of £200. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to instruct a conveyancer to act on their behalf in addition to the one we select on our behalf and we assume responsibility for their invoice. I have asked the Post Office to provide me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved conveyancers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is their an easier way of going about this?

You should ask the Post Office what their panel criteria is for a solicitor.Thereafter ask the of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on mortgages for the Post Office historically. If the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with the Post Office. Another option is to utilise our search tool and we should be able to find you a in Harlington on the approved list for the Post Office.