I am expecting a AIP from Kent Reliance this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Kent Reliance recommend any London Colney solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?

You will need to appoint London Colney solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Kent Reliance through the process.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Virgin Money. I assume I don't need a London Colney solicitor on the Virgin Money panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Virgin Money mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Virgin Money mortgage from the register. Virgin Money, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Virgin Money has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Virgin Money has instructed the Land Registry to do so

The mortgage over my property is with Leeds Building Society for my property in London Colney. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?

You must advise Leeds Building Society prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Leeds Building Society directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel lawyer.

I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in London Colney. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 London Colney of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Are there any apps to help search for a London Colney law firm on the Santander conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.

You can use the tool on this website. Please pick a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of London Colney conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have listed some London Colney conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to see if they are on the Santander approved list

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in London Colney. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the invoice as usual given that all rents and maintenance invoices will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I bought a leasehold flat in London Colney, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2002. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in London Colney with a long lease are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090

With 65 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

I own a leasehold flat in London Colney. Conveyancing was finished in 2011. I have read on a number of consumer forums that I should not let the lease length fall too short. What is the reasoning?

London Colney leasehold properties are for a fixed period - normally just under one hundred years when they are first granted. However many flats in London Colney were constructed or converted 35 or more years ago and so such leases now have under 80 years left to run. That may seem like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions on the whole need leases to have a minimum of 75 years remaining to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to 75 years. To enhance the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Furthermore advantages to taking action before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is below 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.