My family solicitor has given a fee estimate £1350 for no move no fee conveyancing in Cotswolds. I am looking to sell a newly refurbished house for £150,000. Are these estimated fees excessive? Is it in excess of the average fee for conveyancing in Cotswolds?
The quote is slightly on the high side. Where you are happy to spend time scrutinising fee on a like for like basis you may be able to trim some of the expense by say a hundred pounds. That being said, you mightcome to regret choosing an an untested conveyancer. If is important to check the solicitor can represent your mortgage company. Do make use of our search tool to select a Cotswolds conveyancing firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Cotswolds.
Having spent time looking at mumsnet.com for an online lawyer in Cotswolds, many advise that I must look for a CQS kitemarked lawyer. What is CQS?
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * compliance with best practice conveyancing processes through the scheme protocol the standard includes many partnerships who conduct conveyancing in Cotswolds.
is it true that all Cotswolds solicitors on the Nottingham conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Nottingham approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be governed by the CLC.
We previously chose solicitors based in Cotswolds on the UBS solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further charge for the legal aspects of the UBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by UBS?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your property lawyer can charge a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by UBS but by your Cotswolds solicitor. Plenty of firms on the UBS panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Cotswolds. I have a mortgage offer with TSB. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel.
A relative suggested that where I am buying in Cotswolds I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Cotswolds conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Cotswolds 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 demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Cotswolds.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Cotswolds with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent told me not inform my conveyancer about this deal as it could put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Cotswolds ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. If you contact us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Cotswolds. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.