My partner and I are looking to acquire a house in Harlington and are in fact using a Harlington conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barnsley Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Harlington conveyancer 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 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Harlington solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Is there a search tool that I can utilise to investigate if the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in Harlington is on the mortgage lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for The Royal Bank of Scotland thus paying £192.00 in another set of legal costs.
Please do make use of the search tool on this web page. Please choose the mortgage company and type ‘Harlington’ or your location and you will be presented with a number of lawyer based in Harlington or near you.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Harlington I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Harlington in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Neath but reside in Harlington. My solicitor (who is 200 kilometers awayhas requested that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Harlington to attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are Harlington based
When it comes to my conveyancing in Harlington should I be charged VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee
(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Harlington conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the solicitor's time in submitting the funds this way.