My partner and I are looking to purchase a home in Harrow and are in fact using a Harrow conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Harrow conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Harrow lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I was recommended by a number of property agents in Harrow to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to market your site over alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to make any referral fee for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Should I choose a Harrow conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the legal work but they are based approximately 350kilometers away.
The benefit of a high street Harrow conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, hand in your identification documents and pester them if necessary. Having local Harrow know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and they were impressed that should outweigh using an unknown Harrow conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Harrow based.
I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Harrow. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge as usual given that all rents and service payments will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I acquired a studio flat in Harrow, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Harrow with an extended lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 50
With only 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
Our conveyancer in Harrow is asking me for identification documents stating that this is part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the bank. This is not unique to conveyancing in Harrow