Boxmoor - It's not just what you know, it's who you know. By building contacts with local authorities, your Solicitor can deliver Conveyancing with fewer delays, and keep you better informed and they are also cognisant of the issues and considerations native to the area.

Are you eligible for Boxmoor stamp duty relief?

Regions within Boxmoor have been qualified as 'disadvantaged areas' eligible for stamp duty relief. These are based on electoral divisions and local government wards. These disadvantaged areas do not always coincide with postcode districts, so the postcode search tool cannot always be relied on. Note that normal rates of duty apply sales above £150,000. A postcode search is worth undertaking to determine whether a residence under the £150k threshold is in a Disadvantaged area.

Searches in Boxmoor

When buying a property in Boxmoor a property lawyer will commission Local Authority Searches. The Local Authority for Boxmoor is Dacorum Borough Council, Hemel Hempstead Civic Centre, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1HH. Tel: 01442 228 000

What are the consequences if your solicitor is not on your Lender's panel?

Lenders once permitted any solicitors' firm to join their panel. These panels were established so that firms could join and thereby perform legal work on mortgages on behalf of lenders. Recently, lenders have changed the criteria for the firms which they will accept on their panels. They have also reduced the size of their panels, removing firms which do not carry out much Conveyancing work or which they consider to have proved unsatisfactory in the past. If your lender does not accept your chosen solicitor, you must make a decision as to how to proceed:

• Try to obtain a mortgage from another lender who will instruct your Conveyancing solicitor.
• Instruct another firm of Conveyancing solicitors who are on your lender's panel to handle your Conveyancing.
• Continue with your present Conveyancing solicitor, but accept that a separate firm will also act for the lender, and that you will have to pay their costs in addition.

It is usually cheaper to have the same firm act both for you and your lender, and carry out all the conveyancing work in connection with a purchase and the mortgage. If you choose to remain with your first choice of Boxmoor-based solicitor, consider the following:

• Your lenders will instruct another firm, and you will have to pay their costs in addition to your own
• Your solicitor will have to send documents and information to the other solicitors, and wait for a response, which can cause delays
• Your case will be one of many which the lender's solicitors are dealing with, so it will be more difficult to engineer any priority treatment
• You cannot contact these solicitors directly, as they will be acting for the lender, not for you