Conveyancing review

Right legal partners can remove Help to Buy remortgage stresses

Karen Rodrigues

sales director, eConveyancer

The clock is ticking for Help to Buy. Buyers hoping to take advantage of the scheme only have a couple of months left in order to get their application in, with the final reservation deadline having been brought forward to 31 October.

There is more to the Help to Buy market, however, than simply those would-be buyers desperate to use the scheme in order to get onto the housing ladder before time runs out. There are also significant numbers of borrowers who already have a Help to Buy mortgage, and who are now looking to remortgage.

After all, given the pace at which interest rates have risen of late, moving swiftly could make a tangible difference to the size of their mortgage repayments. That’s an appealing prospect at the best of times, let alone in the current climate, where rocketing inflation means every penny counts.

ONE JUST ISN’T ENOUGH

One of the aspects that’s often overlooked when it comes to remortgaging a Help to Buy case is the need for two separate valuations.

With a traditional mortgage, only one valuation is required – the lender simply wants to have an idea of what the property is worth, and how that compares to the sum the client is looking to borrow.

The situation is rather different with Help to Buy, however. There’s still the lender valuation, but a second valuation is also necessary if the client is looking to repay some or all of the equity loan, to determine precisely how much needs to be repaid. At eConveyancer, we provide these second valuations to make the process as seamless as possible.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS

On the face of it, organising a second valuation shouldn’t need to result in a material delay to the remortgage process. However, we know that in practice, things can be very different. We’ve heard from countless brokers about their frustrations with the legal side involved in Help to Buy remortgage deals, and the source of their frustrations often lies in the ‘free legals’ on offer with some lenders.

As intermediaries are keen to point out, free legals are not really fit for purpose. The providers involved are overworked and under-resourced, meaning that any supposed saving in terms of legal fees is swiftly eradicated by the extra stress and potentially additional cost involved in working with these firms.

These difficulties are only heightened when working in more specialist areas of the market, like Help to Buy. It’s one thing for free legals providers to handle vanilla purchase or remortgage deals, but when things get a little more intricate – such as when cases involve equity loans and housing associations – the shortcomings of these legal firms become all too apparent.

WE’VE NOT HAD ENOUGH OF EXPERTS

We want to handle things differently at eConveyancer. It’s why we have built a wide-ranging panel of legal firms that aren’t just jacks of all trades, but that can offer specialisation in more niche areas of the market.

This gives intermediaries the power to choose the legal firm that’s best for their clients, to steer them toward the conveyancers who are most likely to understand exactly what’s necessary for that case and how to get it over We want to handle things differently at eConveyancer. It’s why we have built a wide-ranging panel of legal firms that aren’t just jacks of all trades, but that can offer specialisation

the line as swiftly – and with as little stress – as possible.

These legal firms are fully audited and regularly reviewed to ensure that they are still delivering the top-quality service expected, too.

BOLSTERING THE BROKER RELATIONSHIP

The best brokers take a longerterm view when it comes to their businesses. It makes sense to focus your efforts on building a lasting relationship with your clients, so that they keep coming back to you year after year for all of their financial needs, rather than simply relying on new borrowers to keep coming through the door.

In order to do that, brokers put a lot of work into delivering the best possible experience to their clients – but ultimately, many things are involved in a purchase or remortgage that are beyond their control. Finding partners you can trust to deliver, whether that’s a lender who can turn around funds on a tight deadline or a conveyancer who can be relied upon to ensure a smooth deal, is crucial.

Partnering with the right businesses not only means that your clients’ purchase or remortgage will go through smoothly, but it also boosts your chances of retaining their custom for the long haul. After all, when a case goes through swiftly, it’s brokers who get the credit. M I