I am due to complete on the purchase of a property in Haggerston but as a consequence of damage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree compensation from the owner of £2k by way of a deduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of a side agreement yet RBS will not permit this. Should they have been notified?

Any conveyancing practitioner that is on a RBS conveyancing panel is required to advise RBS of any amendments to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your solicitor to disclose the reduction to RBS then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, RBS and you would have to appoint a new conveyancer for your conveyancing in Haggerston.

I am selling my house in Haggerston. Will my conveyancing practitioner need to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently in recent years.

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

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Haggerston and Solicitor partnerships in Haggerston who provide Conveyancing services It is important to make clear that both are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. The two can deal with associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

My partner and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Principality as we intend to carry out renovations to our property in Haggerston. Are we obliged to select a bricks and mortar Haggerston solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Principality don't usually require firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality panel.

I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Yorkshire BS. Is it usual for Yorkshire BS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Haggerston is approved on their conveyancing panel? Yorkshire BS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Yorkshire BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Haggerston. I now require my file however the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Haggerston of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Haggerston both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Haggerston is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Haggerston conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Haggerston. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to determine the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Haggerston premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72.39 years.