I am in the process of selling my apartment in Crouch End and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are changing their solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Crouch End ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.

Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

Will lawyers ask for money up-front when it comes to conveyancing in Crouch End?

If you are buying a property in Crouch End your lawyer will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Ordinarily this is called for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the total price then this will be needed immediately ahead of contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a few days prior to the day of completion.

Do I choose a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Crouch End?

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Crouch End and Solicitor partnerships in Crouch End to choose from We would stress that both are regulated professionals specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. They may both also deal with other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Crouch End. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

After what feels like an age I have had an offer on an apartment in Crouch End agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have placed an offer on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Crouch End. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with HSBC going?

It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Crouch End conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the specifics of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market many home buyers would apply for a home loan with HSBC and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their lawyer to move forward with searches.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Crouch End is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Crouch End are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Crouch End you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Crouch End may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Crouch End. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Crouch End - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Crouch End. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Crouch End conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Crouch End premises is Flat 2A 19 Shepherds Hill in June 2014. The tribunal concluded in accordance with section 48 and schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act (the 1993 Act) that the premium payable in respect of the grant of a new lease for the Flat be £24,303 (twenty four thousand three hundred and three pounds) This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 67.85 years.