I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Harborne for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our bank won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?

Lenders in the main restrict either the type or the volume of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a law practice must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, a few banks have reduced the amount of solicitor practices they permit to represent them. Be aware that have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the reduction of solicitor panels a few years ago even though there remains differing opinions about the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry indicate that plenty of law firms, including some in or near Harborne only perform a couple conveyances per annum.

This question may be naive but I am new to the process as a 1st time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Harborne. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Harborne?

On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Harborne. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

My wife and I are in the throws of viewing apartments in Harborne and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I am planning to take a mortgage with .

It would be sensible to instigate your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. As you are seeking a mortgage with , make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Harborne. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A couple of days later, the called me to say that they were not on the conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the main reason for stalling in Harborne conveyancing transactions. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Harborne.

My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent advised that the vendor will only issue a contract if we instruct their recommended lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a family conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Harborne

We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious buyer is going to damage their objectives. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to appoint your preferred Harborne conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn their estate agent a referral fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by senior management.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my flat in Harborne. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Harborne.

Harborne Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

If a Harborne lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Harbornelease extensions you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension. Does the lease have more than 85 years unexpired? Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared by the leaseholders and could well materially increase the the service fees or result in a one off invoice.