As someone not used to the Harwich conveyancing process what is the number one tip you can give me for the house moving process in Harwich

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Harwich and elsewhere in Essex is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the vendor, estate agent and sometimes a mortgage company. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Harwich is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above the other players in the conveyancing process.

When researching online forums for a conveyancing lawyer in Harwich, most post that I should instruct a CQS assured lawyer. What is CQS?

The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised quality mark for legal experts in home moving process, trusted by some of the UK's major mortgage companies. Four years ago the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The scheme does not cover licenced conveyancers. Harwich is one of the many areas in England and Wales where there are CQS solicitors.

Is it the case that all Harwich conveyancing solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the HSBC approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the firms would be overseen by the CLC.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Harwich. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.

Coventry BS have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Harwich has been accepted, what are the next steps?

The estate agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (be sure the solicitors are on the lender’s approved list). Call up Coventry BS or your financial adviser and finish off any relevant paperwork. Coventry BS will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or owners to arrange a time for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Coventry BS will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Harwich.

A relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Harwich I should 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 Harwich conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Harwich around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Harwich.

Do I stop the direct debit for my mortgage with Coventry BS as soon as a completion date for my sale in Harwich has been agreed?

You would be well advised to maintain meeting any mortgage sums to Coventry BS until the mortgage is repaid on completion as part of your Harwich conveyancing.