My previous lawyer has given a fee estimate £1700 for freehold conveyancing in Clapham. I’m hoping to downsize from a newly refurbished property for £150,000. This appears overpriced. Is it in excess of what I should be paying for conveyancing in Clapham?
The charges are a little high. If you shop around you may be able to decrease the fees slightly by as much as a hundred pounds. On the other hand, you couldlive to regret opting for an a cheaper lawyer. If is important to check the solicitor can act for your lender. You can make use of our comparison tool to choose a Clapham conveyancing practice on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Clapham.
I am purchasing a property mortgage free in Clapham. I have lived for the previous dozen years in Clapham. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I know the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then almost all of the Clapham conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to take that path of encouragement . One thing to bear in mind; if you are intend to sell the house at a future date, it will be of importance to your future purchaser what the searches determine. On occasion houses with apparent issues can still throw up unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Clapham should be able to give you some practical guidance here.
There are plenty of conveyancing solicitors in Clapham but how do I know who I should use?
It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Clapham conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. 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 go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Does a directory service exist listing Kent Reliance panel conveyancers in Clapham on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such directory service on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lending institutions make their panel listings available over the internet. Where you are seeking to appoint a Clapham lawyer on the Kent Reliance please use our facility.
I have instructed a Clapham property lawyer having made sure that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander 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 solicitor 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 Clapham postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Clapham.
Will my lawyer be raising questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Clapham.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Clapham. Plenty of people will acquire a property in Clapham, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which can figure out the risks in Clapham. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard inquiry of the seller to find out whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim stemming from an incorrect response. The buyer’s solicitors will also commission an environmental report. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations will need to be made.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in Clapham. Now, I need my files however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Clapham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Clapham ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some banks may refuse to grant a loan on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Clapham. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Clapham to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.