My husband and I are hoping to purchase a home in Hartlepool and have instructed a Hartlepool conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Hartlepool solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hartlepool solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Hartlepool
Do not opt for the lowest Hartlepool conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Clydesdale. I assume I don't need a Hartlepool property lawyer on the Clydesdale panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Clydesdale mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Clydesdale mortgage from the register. Clydesdale, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Clydesdale has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Clydesdale has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Hartlepool solicitor - who is on the RBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Hartlepool postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with RBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Hartlepool.
five months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Hartlepool concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one near me in Hartlepool I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Hartlepool for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years may be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Taking into account that I am about to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a terraced house in Hartlepool I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thehouse move prior to appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
Absolutely - we would be happy to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the conveyancer who will be conducting your conveyancing in Hartlepool.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Hartlepool should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.
Are Hartlepool conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to issue transparent conveyancing costs?
Contained within the Solicitors Code of Conduct are specific rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their fees to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, nevertheless, constitute the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Hartlepool or or elsewhere in the country.