Redeem Help To Buy. Do you need a solicitor?

Joemdt

Looking to pay off Help To Buy equity loan using savings (so won’t be moving). Target HCA saying we need to pay for a solicitor but spoke to one who questioned their need to be involved and said it’s as simple as agreeing a valuation, paying, then completing DS1 to remove second charge?

Does anyone know why you would need to get a solicitor? I don’t want to incur costs unnecessarily. Even for 2 hours time, a solicitor will charge about £300!

amnblog

Can we assume you'd rather pick up the risk of getting it wrong yourself?

dunstonh

EDIT: disregard this post. Typed it after multiple interruptions and didnt read it fully and jumped to the last line.

Up until the late 90s, virtually everyone used a conveyancing solicitor for a full service. The solicitor would do the searches, report any issues, give you the risk warnings and check your contract. Nowadays, most do not.

However, we have seen many posts on this board where people have later suffered issues which would have been avoided had they employed a full service from a conveyencor and not just the bare minimum. You also see media articles every few weeks from some householder stuck with something they said they were never told about when they bough the property. They would have been had they used the full service. They weren't because they didn't.

ven for 2 hours time, a solicitor will charge about £300!

Why the exclamation mark? That is the going rate for a professionally qualified individual. Plus, in the scheme of owning a property and the costs you will suffer over the years, that is absolute peanuts.

glentoran99

dunstonh wrote: »

Up until the late 90s, virtually everyone used a conveyancing solicitor for a full service. The solicitor would do the searches, report any issues, give you the risk warnings and check your contract. Nowadays, most do not.

However, we have seen many posts on this board where people have later suffered issues which would have been avoided had they employed a full service from a conveyencor and not just the bare minimum. You also see media articles every few weeks from some householder stuck with something they said they were never told about when they bough the property. They would have been had they used the full service. They weren't because they didn't.



Why the exclamation mark? That is the going rate for a professionally qualified individual. Plus, in the scheme of owning a property and the costs you will suffer over the years, that is absolute peanuts.

the OP isn't looking to buy a house though, they are paying off a loan

dunstonh

glentoran99 wrote: »

the OP isn't looking to buy a house though, they are paying off a loan

Good point. That will teach me to type a response whilst getting constant interruptions.

csgohan4

dunstonh wrote: »

Good point. That will teach me to type a response whilst getting constant interruptions.

probably from the insurance section

chanz4

It really shouldn't need one, as the first charge will still be your lender. Also should be treated as a secured loan

Thrugelmir

Joemdt wrote: »

Does anyone know why you would need to get a solicitor?

There'll be legal matters to be attended to. The Help to Buy loan will be secured against your property by means of a second charge. Your main mortgage lender holding the first charge.

Joemdt

If it is just a simple process, i.e. just a matter of transferring money and then having the second charge removed then I think I’m capable of doing it without much risk. I’m just trying to establish if it is anymore complicated than that. I spoke to a solicitor who didn’t know the exact process but questioned why I would need one. She said that a solicitor wouldn’t get involved when a mortgage is redeemed (and the 1st charge removed) and couldn’t see how this would be any different.

Joemdt

I get what you are saying about £300 being the going rate, perhaps I worded my point wrong. I was just trying to say, £300 would be a lot to paying if it is just a simple processes, not that the solicitor is overcharging. The solicitor has been very fair by trying to make sure that I don’t incur costs unnecessarily

Thrugelmir

Joemdt wrote: »

then having the second charge removed then I think I!!!8217;m capable of doing it without much risk.

A couple of risks that spring to mind. Is that the borrower doesn't pay the money across to the lender, or that the prson completing the forms isn't even the borrower, i.e. is committing fraud. Lenders therefore prefer the matter to be dealt with properly.

You are in effect paying the lenders costs. Should matters go wrong. Then it's the solicitors professional indemnity insurance that pays up. One reason that their fees are so high. As there's thousands of pounds at stake.