We previously instructed solicitors located in Harefield on the Bank of Ireland solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional charge for the legal aspects of the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Bank of Ireland?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor is entitled to charge a fee for this. This charge is not set by Bank of Ireland but by your Harefield lawyer. Some firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
I can not work out if my lender requires a lease extension. I have called my Harefield building society branch on various occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Harefield conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called and was told they would not lend based on their published requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the conveyancing practitioner is on the lender panel, she or he must adhere to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Harefield on 6/5/2025, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Co-operative and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Co-operative to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the primary reason for hinderance in Harefield house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Harefield.
I have todaydiscovered that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Harefield for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 10 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest method to check if the premises is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Harefield conveyancing specialists.
I am buying a new build house in Harefield with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage 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.
I was pointed in your direction by a couple of local estate agents in Harefield to select a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your services rather than another?
We don’t offer any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
The conveyancers carrying out our conveyancing in Harefield has forwarded documents to review that show the land is unregistered with epitome documents. How can it be that the property not yet recorded at the Land Registry?
Although the vast majorities of properties in Harefield are now registered with HMLR there are still some that remain unregistered. Any property in Harefield that has been remortgaged since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HM Land Registry under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Harefield property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Harefield conveyancing lawyers should be able to handle this type of conveyancing but where uncertainty exists the prevailing proposition presently is for the seller to register it first and thereafter deal with the transfer to the buyer - this undoubtedly result in a drawn-out transaction.