My husband and I are planning to buy a flat in Horncastle and are in fact using a Horncastle conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Alliance & Leicester have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Horncastle solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Horncastle lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

I have todaybecome aware that Wolstenholmes have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Horncastle for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I check that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Horncastle conveyancing specialists.

In my capacity as executor for the estate of my father I am disposing of a residence in Newport but reside in Horncastle. My solicitor (approximately 235 kilometers awayneeds me to sign a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Horncastle who can witness and place their company stamp on the document?

Technically speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Horncastle based

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Horncastle garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Horncastle conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Horncastle conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Horncastle, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Horncastle with over 90 years remaining are worth £181,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2074

With only 50 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

I see that you have a post code search directory identifying law firms on the bank conveyancing panel. Do Horncastle conveyancing companies pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for my house purchase?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the lender conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Horncastle.