We're in Purfleet, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Barclays , and our lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Purfleet is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Purfleet are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Purfleet you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Purfleet may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.

I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Purfleet. I happened to stumble across a web site which seems to have the perfect offering If there is a chance to get all this stuff done via web that would be ideal. Should I be wary? What should out be looking out for?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Purfleet. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Purfleet who previously acted has long since retired. Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Purfleet conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Purfleet conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Purfleet property 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 related to 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.

Why do Purfleet conveyancing costs are more expensive for leasehold and freehold properties?

If acquiring a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control