My husband and I are purchasing a 1 bedroom flat in Harlesden with a mortgage. We like our Harlesden solicitor, but the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our Harlesden conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to require that the bank use our Harlesden lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Harlesden conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
The Harlesden conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my purchase in Harlesden have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Santander conveyancing panel and my previous Harlesden lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Santander conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of obstruction in Harlesden house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the common causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Harlesden.
Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Harlesden. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Harlesden and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Harlesden in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to give a mortgage on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Harlesden. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Harlesden to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
How difficult is it to change firm as I need to retain a firm on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing list. I had appointed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Harlesden round the corner but she is not approved by Skipton Building Society
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Harlesden on the Skipton Building Society panel. Please note that the solicitors that we list do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are regulated by the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Harlesden. In utilising search facility on this page, you can contrast fees for conveyancing solicitors in Harlesden and beyond.