My lawyer in Redruth is not listed on the National Westminster Bank Solicitor Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the National Westminster Bank panel?

The limited options available to you here include:

1. Carry on with your preferred Redruth solicitors but National Westminster Bank will need to use a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing charges and cause frustration.
2. Find a new solicitor to to deal with the purchase, remembering to check they are National Westminster Bank approved.
3. Persuade your National Westminster Bank solicitor to try to join the National Westminster Bank panel

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Redruth. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Planning on purchasing a apartment in Redruth. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the UBS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Redruth conveyancing practitioner is on the UBS conveyancing panel.

At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Redruth agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on on an apartment, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Redruth. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with RBS started?

It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then survey, Redruth conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the RBS approved list. Regarding the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of buyers will apply for a home loan with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with the conveyancing in Redruth.

I am selling our house in Redruth and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using an internet conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Redruth. We have lived in Redruth for 5 years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Redruth 10 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?

As long as the title is registered the details of your ownership will be retained by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and obtain current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £175,000 flat in Redruth next Tuesday. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Redruth?

Redruth conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily involves fees being levied by freeholders :

Answering pre-contract questions Where consent is required before sale in Redruth Supplying insurance information Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Redruth leasehold premises is £350. For Redruth conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Redruth - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Does this lease have in excess of 82 years left? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?