My fiance and I are planning to purchase a house in Mevagissey and have instructed a Mevagissey conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Birmingham Midshires have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Mevagissey lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Mevagissey lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Mevagissey is more expensive?

Mevagissey leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.

I just acquired a flat at auction in Mevagissey. Conveyancing is required. What is next?

Given that you are now legally committed yourself to purchase you should appoint a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of urgency as you will have a tight a fixed date to complete the property. An auction property will have a bespoke legal pack. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the legal papers may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork specific to a leasehold property. You must hand this to the solicitor working for you at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the on the contractual date .

My lawyer has informed me that flying freehold insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Mevagissey conveyancing?

The right level of flying freehold indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Barclays and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Mevagissey. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and found one close by in Mevagissey I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Mevagissey for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Mevagissey where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Mevagissey conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I own a 2 bed flat in Mevagissey, conveyancing was carried out in 1998. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Mevagissey with an extended lease are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2080

With just 55 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.