The Banwell conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Banwell have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Nottingham conveyancing panel and my family Banwell lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.

I require expedited conveyancing in Banwell as I have a deadline to sign on the dotted line inside 4 weeks. Luckily I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?

As you are not taking a home loan you have the choice not to do searches although no conveyancer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Banwell the following are instances of issues that can be revealed and adversely impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Charges, Outstanding Grants, Road Schemes,...

Me and my brother have a semi-detached Edwardian property in Banwell. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Godiva Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Godiva Mortgages Ltd to clarify?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Banwell and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.

I was advised by numerous property agents in Banwell to select a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to promote your services ahead of another?

We don’t offer any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in Banwell. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Banwell who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Banwell conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Banwell Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Does the lease have in excess of 82 years left? Where a Banwell lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most Banwelllease extensions you will need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be legally able to extend the lease. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?