Ind: 'I'd heard all the horror stories about solicitors'
am 23.08.2005 14:29:18 von Axqi'I'd heard all the horror stories about solicitors'
With the Halifax set to shake up the legal side of house sales, Esther
Shaw meets a buyer who fast-tracked his paperwork
The Independent (London)
Published: 21 August 2005
'Do you know a good solicitor?" It's a question asked time and again by
house-hunters across the UK.
Homebuying is said to be one of life's most stressful experiences. And
among the many challenges is to find legal services at a reasonable
price, and then to get your purchase handled by someone reliable, swift
and efficient.
If you are a first-time buyer with no previous knowledge or experience
of the property market, it can be especially hard to know where to
start.
The legal side of buying a home, including the transfer of ownership,
is known as conveyancing. It's a process that can be hideously
complicated. While you could try to do it yourself, you would be better
off paying a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to do it for you. In
both cases, their job is to check the legal documents and carry out a
search for any local authority plans that could affect the home: a
proposed new bypass, for example.
They will also agree what is included in the house sale, arrange the
completion and exchange of contracts, and oversee stamp-duty payments.
To find a reliable firm, buyers usually seek recommendations from
family, friends and colleagues - or fall back on suggestions from the
estate agent.
Alternatively, websites operated by the Law Society
(www.lawsociety.org.uk) or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
(www.theclc.gov.uk) provide lists of local practices.
Last week a new conveyancing service was launched by the Halifax bank.
Its panel of selected legal practices will act for any homebuyer or
remortgagee - not just Halifax customers.
Fixed fees are set on a rising scale: from =A3299 for properties valued
at less than =A350,000, to =A3799 for those in the =A3401,000 to =A3500,000
price range. You can also monitor progress online.
Halifax is not the first lender to offer conveyancing - Britannia
building society has a similar service - but as it is the UK's biggest
lender, its move is likely to make the market more competitive.
"Conveyancing is an unwelcome extra cost that homebuyers have to budget
for," says Melanie Bien, associate director at mortgage broker Savills
Private Finance. "A fixed price will make that easier."
But while the cost of the Halifax service is reasonable, it is not
vastly cheaper than standard conveyancing, she adds.
You can generally expect the fees charged by solicitors or conveyancing
firms to start at =A3400, rising to =A31,500 on more expensive homes.
However, what you pay depends on how the firm charges. Some quote a
fixed sum at the outset, while others provide only an estimate - which
may be calculated as a percentage of the property value - and also bill
you for expenses like postage and VAT.
If you're lucky, you might find a "no sale, no fee" deal, where no
charge is made if the transaction falls through. Not many solicitors
offer this (although it is a feature of the Halifax deal).
When looking for a solicitor, get several quotes but don't make your
decision based on price alone. You'll want to get on with the person
you're dealing with, who should be able to explain the process clearly.
A pilot of Halifax's new service helped Alan Goodwin, 35, buy his
bungalow in Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, within six weeks.
"I'd heard so many stories of people having a complete nightmare when
trying to buy a home, because of delays in the legal process. For me,
it took no time at all, and the fixed-fee service made life a lot
easier."