I am in the process of selling my flat in Northumberland Heath and the EA has just telephoned to say that the buyers are appointing a new solicitor. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Northumberland Heath ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

I require conveyancing for a flat in a relatively new development (five years old) in Northumberland Heath. 95% of the flats are already sold. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches as part of conveyancing in Northumberland Heath?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a loan, your mortgage company will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Northumberland Heath conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, 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 insist that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to change to an alternative solicitor for your conveyancing in Northumberland Heath.

My wife and I own a terraced Edwardian house in Northumberland Heath. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and National Westminster Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should 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 Northumberland Heath and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.

Do I need to be suspicious by estate agents that I am dealing with are suggesting a national conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm?

As is the case with many professional services, often recommendations from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. But there are lots of players in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders may recommend solicitors to instruct. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there might be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred conveyancer. However, bear in mind that the majority of banks operate an approved list of conveyancers you are obliged to use for the lender aspect of your conveyancing.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Northumberland Heath. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Northumberland Heath - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm to help?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Northumberland Heath flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.