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TL:DR - can anybody recommend a solicitor who did a good job, for a decent price and dealt with successfully releasing your Help To Buy ISA and the attached government 'bonus' on a timescale which didn't mess up your transaction?
I found this a bit of a ball-ache. My partner and I were putting the max £200 per person per month into our H2B ISAs and annoyingly our simultaneous exchange/completion fell on the first week of a new calendar month, therefore me being a greedy bastard, I wanted to deposit another £400 for a little extra free money, but we were required to close our ISAs so that our Sols could process the funds in a timely manner prior to completion.
I'd advise you to not be so greedy and close down the ISA as soon as you know the potential exchange/completion date - You may lose out on a little extra free money, but it was more stress that could have been avoided. If (God forbid) the sale falls through, you can always re-open the ISA with the same level of funds and you wont lose your bonus.
My Sols were 'BPL Solicitors' who handled the whole purchase efficiently, but I'm based down South, so might not be suitable if you've got a complex purchase and need face-to-face time like we required.
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Not London based so can't recommend anyone specifically, but our solicitors had to register themselves as being able to process the Help to Buy ISA bonus, so 2.5 months down the line we've not had anything. That may be something worth checking before making your decision, especially if you need the bonus to pay for the house. My only general suggestion for a choosing solicitor is to get someone reputable and local, being able to turn up and drop stuff off or sign things is a massive help (or at least it was for us) we could have paid a couple of hundred quid less, but the service was great and the convenience was worth the extra cash.
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@dwl
Sorry! I know this is old ground but I have a question about recommended solicitors.
I'm at the beginning of purchasing a property (offer accepted etc) and a decent amount of our funds are tied up in a government 'Help To Buy ISA' (the kind where you get a 25% bonus on your savings). I know these funds can't be used towards a deposit but can be used for Stamp Duty among other things a bit further down the line.
I gather they require a bit of work on behalf of the solicitor to get the funds released swiftly and at the correct stage of the purchase but our current solicitor has zero experience of doing this so I'm looking at other options.
TL:DR - can anybody recommend a solicitor who did a good job, for a decent price and dealt with successfully releasing your Help To Buy ISA and the attached government 'bonus' on a timescale which didn't mess up your transaction?