What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Clayton

There are two types of lawyers who can carry out conveyancing in Clayton namely CLC regulated conveyancers or solicitors. The two can administer conveyancing services that you need to complete the disposal or acquisition of property. Both are required to conduct Clayton conveyancing on similar standards and guidelines so you can be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be properly conducted and that all necessary steps should be accurately attended to.

I am purchasing a property in Clayton. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. UBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with UBS your lawyer must follow the formal requirements set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to UBS where a lease fails to comply with these specifications. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Clayton.

I have paid off my mortgage with Principality. I assume I don't need a Clayton solicitor on the Principality panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Principality mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Principality mortgage from the register. Principality, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Principality has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Principality has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the number one cause of stalling in Clayton house deals. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Clayton.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Clayton I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Clayton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Clayton. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Clayton.

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Clayton, conveyancing was carried out May 2000. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Clayton with over 90 years remaining are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2085

With just 60 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £20,000 and £23,000 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

The solicitors conducting our conveyancing in Clayton has forwarded documents to review that state the land is unregistered with epitome documents. How can it be that the property not currently recorded at HMLR?

Whilst the vast majorities of properties in Clayton are now registered with the Land Registry there are still a few that remain unregistered. Any property in Clayton that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Clayton property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Many Clayton conveyancing practitioners will be familiar with this type of conveyancing but where uncertainty reigns the conventional advice nowadays appears to be for the seller’s conveyancer to deal with the registration formalities first and then sell - this no doubt result in a significant delay.