When buying or selling in the area, who you know matters as much as what you know. Our Conveyancing specialists in Gerrards Cross and Chalfont have close working associations with a broad range of local information sources and they pay close attention to issues commonly arising during Gerrards Cross and Chalfont transactions.

Searches

When buying a new home in Gerrards Cross and Chalfont your property lawyer is required by your lender to conduct Official Local Authority Searches. The Local Authority for Gerrards Cross and Chalfont is Chiltern District Council, King George V Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5AW. Tel: 01494 729 000

Does your Gerrards Cross and Chalfont purchase qualify for Stamp Duty Relief?

Purchases of property in Gerrards Cross and Chalfont 'disadvantaged areas' are eligible for stamp duty. These are based on electoral divisions and local government wards. For homes bought for less than £150,000, this relief may be available. If it is thought that a property is in a disadvantaged area, but an online search does not confirm this, it may be necessary to make further enquiries with the local council. By making a straightforward search by postcode, you can usually determine if a property purchase below £150,000 will benefit, however. Note that homes built very recently may also fail to show up on a search, even if they are technically eligible.

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

Lenders maintain panels of law firms to perform mortgage legal work. While these panels were once open, allowing any firm to join, that is no longer the case. Increasingly however, lenders have lowered the number of firms which they will accept and allow to perform this work. If a lender will not instruct a firm you have picked to perform your legal work, you have the following choices; you could either obtain a mortgage from another lender, or instruct another firm of conveyancer who are on the panel. Generally, it is cheaper to have the same firm act both for you and your lender, but you could also choose to persist with both your first choice of lender and solicitor, and pay for a lawyer selected by the lender to carry out the relevant legal work. If you choose to remain with your first choice of Gerrards Cross and Chalfont-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