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Solicitors adding fees for help to buy

pickles13
pickles13 Posts: 157 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
How much more (roughly) should we be charged by the solicitor when using the help to buy scheme? We have had lots of quotes and went with one that was competitive and recommended by the broker. I have been sent an online questionnaire and one of the questions is about using help to buy and states that we will be charged an extra £167 plus VAT on top of the quoted price. This now brings the price up to quite a lot above some of our more local solicitors. Is this something that they all charge for? Surely this should be a question asked when getting a quote from them?! Finding a solicitor seems to be harder han finding a house!
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Comments

  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Help to Buy is not the average purchase - it is probably 1 in 1000.

    Clearly if you want a quote for a HTB conveyancig service, you need to tell the conveyancer it's HTB!

    There is obviously extra work. £167 is probably 1 to 2 hours at conveyacer/ solicitor costs, so seems fair, but as always, shop around!
  • Vampgirl
    Vampgirl Posts: 622 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    pickles13 wrote: »
    How much more (roughly) should we be charged by the solicitor when using the help to buy scheme?
    Ours charged £150+VAT for dealing with the HTB.
    pickles13 wrote: »
    We have had lots of quotes and went with one that was competitive and recommended by the broker. I have been sent an online questionnaire and one of the questions is about using help to buy and states that we will be charged an extra £167 plus VAT on top of the quoted price. This now brings the price up to quite a lot above some of our more local solicitors. Is this something that they all charge for?
    Probably yes, so if you didn't specifically mention that you'd be using HTB then I think you need to get them all to quote again - the others probably don't include it either.
    pickles13 wrote: »
    Surely this should be a question asked when getting a quote from them?!
    Given that HTB is probably a small proportion of overall conveyancing work, I would say the onus is on the requestor to give them all the information up front - same as you would tell them whether you are buying and selling, or just buying, and whether it is leasehold or freehold.
    pickles13 wrote: »
    Finding a solicitor seems to be harder han finding a house!
    I sympathise....we thought exactly the same ;-) You're trying to make sure you get a good solicitor but not pay the earth for it. We found knowing what is the right balance between quality and price when we had no experience very difficult.
  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 39,203 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I take it we're talking about HTB - Equity Loan on a newbuild and not HTB - Mortgage Guarantee?

    I can see no reason why the latter should attract an increased fee, but Equity Loan is a second charge on the property it does involve more work.
    I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • pickles13
    pickles13 Posts: 157 Forumite
    kingstreet wrote: »
    I take it we're talking about HTB - Equity Loan on a newbuild and not HTB - Mortgage Guarantee?

    I can see no reason why the latter should attract an increased fee, but Equity Loan is a second charge on the property it does involve more work.

    It is the latter actually. As it turns out, the solicitor agrees that it's no extra work and won't be charging us.
  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 39,203 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sometimes, you just have to know the right questions to ask...

    Sadly, there are professionals out there who it seems don't know those questions.
    I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • ACG
    ACG Posts: 24,400 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper I've helped Parliament
    I was going to say the solicitor I use does not charge extra - however I only do the non equity loan version of HTB mortgages.
    I am a Mortgage Adviser
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 39,203 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ACG wrote: »
    I was going to say the solicitor I use does not charge extra - however I only do the non equity loan version of HTB mortgages.
    I bet your solicitor is bright enough to ask you if it's "the one with the second charge which means more work for me" though? So you can say no...
    I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    A lot of the online quote services ask if it's Help To Buy, but don't ask which version. It's annoying, isn't it?
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • Gordon_Hose
    Gordon_Hose Posts: 6,259 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    We didn't get charged extra for HTB - MG last year.
  • pickles13
    pickles13 Posts: 157 Forumite
    Well in any case, they have sent me an email today saying that the online question is confusing so they will change it.
This discussion has been closed.
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