Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Highams Park is not identified on my bank's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the quality of his work?
That is most likely an incorrect assumption to make. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should contact the Highams Park conveyancing practice and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
I am purchasing a property without a mortgage in Highams Park. I have resided for the previous twelve years in Highams Park. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I know the area and road intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?
In the absence of a home loan, then almost all of the Highams Park conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your lawyer will ’encourage you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but he has a professional duty to take that path of advice. One thing to take into account; if you are intend to sell the house in the future, it could be of interest to your prospective purchaser what the searches determine. There are plenty of instances where houses with day to day issues can still reveal unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Highams Park will provide you some constructive guidance here.
Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Highams Park?
If you are buying a property in Highams Park your solicitor will ask you place them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is requested to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is payable against the total price then this should be required immediately prior to exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.
Will my solicitor be raising questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Highams Park.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Highams Park. Some people will purchase a property in Highams Park, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that may be initiated by the buyer or by their conveyancers which will figure out the risks in Highams Park. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard question of the vendor to discover whether the premises has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim stemming from an incorrect response. A purchaser’s solicitors may also carry out an enviro search. This will reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be carried out.
How do I identify a Highams Park solicitor on the Alliance & Leicester conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the lawyer.
Feel free to make use of the tool on this website. Please pick a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Highams Park conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Highams Park conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can telephone them to check if they are on the Alliance & Leicester approved list