I require conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (6 years built) in Holyhead. The vast majority the flats have already been sold. Is it really necessary to order local searches for my conveyancing in Holyhead?

Where you are obtaining a loan, your mortgage company will need some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Holyhead conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will ’encourage’, perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should have the searches done, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Holyhead.

Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of Holyhead conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel?

Holyhead conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Co-operative directly.

My fiance and I are hoping to buy a 3 bedroom apartment in Holyhead with a residential mortgage from Nationwide Building Society.We use our Holyhead conveyancing lawyer but Nationwide Building Society advised that his firm is not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Nationwide Building Society panel firm or retain our preferred solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, a common one being that conveyancers will be on the Nationwide Building Society approved list. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Nationwide Building Society

Me and my brother own a renovated Edwardian property in Holyhead. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Holyhead and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.

What makes a Holyhead lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Holyhead is not unique. All leases are drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party. A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Holyhead, conveyancing having been completed in 2010. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Holyhead with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2091

With only 66 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.