I do hope you can assist me. My Burntwood solicitor is advising me that he has toorder Burntwood conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Santanderconveyancing panel. Is my solicitor right?

You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook conditions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Burntwood conveyancing searches.

My fiancee and I are in the throws of looking at apartments in Burntwood and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a conveyancer in place at this point? I am planning to take a home loan with Bank of Ireland.

You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Burntwood. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £200. A few days later, the property lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Coventry BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Intending to buy a maisonette in Burntwood. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Burntwood solicitor is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.

It has been four months following my purchase conveyancing in Burntwood took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

How does conveyancing in Burntwood differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build property in Burntwood contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is finished. This is because builders in Burntwood tend to buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Burntwood or who has acted in the same development.

My fiance and I may need to rent out our Burntwood basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Burntwood conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Burntwood do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burntwood - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the the remaining lease term? The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is usually retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Many Burntwood leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block set by the management company. Should you purchase the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally periodically accross the year. This can vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be surprisingly expensive.