I am buying a property mortgage free in Harold Wood. I have lived for the previous twelve years in Harold Wood. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the area and road very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a home loan, then almost all of the Harold Wood conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your solicitor will try and sway you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but he has a professional duty to do this. Do bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house at a future date, it could be of importance to your prospective buyer what the searches determine. On occasion houses with no practical issues can still reveal unfavourable search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Harold Wood will provide you some practical guidance concerning this.

Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Harold Wood?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Harold Wood your lawyer will ask you put them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is called for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the sale price then this should be needed shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days ahead of the day of completion.

My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Harold Wood. I need to find out whether they are accepted on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Could you advise?

The first thing to do is call your solicitor and enquire if they can act for the bank. Alternatively you can get in touch with Leeds Building Society who may be able to assist.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Harold Wood. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Harold Wood who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Harold Wood conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am the proprietor of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Harold Wood. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Harold Wood conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harold Wood flat is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.

Midway through the sale of a leasehold flat in Harold Wood. Conveyancing is fine but we are being charged a fortune by the landlord. So far we have paid £225 for a leasehold management information and then another £117.20 for supplemental questions raised by the purchaser's lawyer.

Your lawyer will unlikely have any impact over the level of the fee for this information however the average fee for the information for Harold Wood leasehold premises is £395. For Harold Wood conveyancing sales it is usual for the vendor to cover the costs. The landlord or their agents are not duty bound to address these questions although many will be content to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices disproportionate to the work involved. Regretfully there is no legislation that mandates capped fees for administrative tasks. Nor is there any statutory time limit by which they are obliged to issue answers.