It is 10 years ago since I acquired my home in Hillingdon. Conveyancing lawyers have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find my title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who handled your purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Hillingdon relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
We are selling our flat in Hillingdon. Does my property lawyer have to be required to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the HSBC conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently at the moment.
We had instructed solicitors located in Hillingdon on the TSB solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional charge for the legal aspects of the TSB mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by TSB?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer may levy a fee for this. This charge is not set by TSB but by your Hillingdon lawyer. Numerous firms on the TSB panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
I am expecting a OIP from HSBC this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do HSBC recommend any Hillingdon solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Hillingdon solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the HSBC conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and HSBC through the process.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Barclays. Is it usual for Barclays to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Hillingdon is approved on their conveyancing panel? Barclays have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Barclays to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Hillingdon?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Hillingdon. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Hillingdon in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks will not give a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Hillingdon. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Hillingdon especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Hillingdon.
Is it possible to swap conveyancer as I have to find one who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. I instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Hillingdon five minutes from me but the firm is not accepted by Aldermore
It would be our pleasure to help you select a conveyancing solicitor in Hillingdon on the Aldermore panel. Please note that the law firms that we on the directory do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Hillingdon. In making use of search facility on this site, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Hillingdon.