The owners have rather pushy vendors who has insisted on a lock out contract with a deposit of 5k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?

Lock out contracts are contracts binding a home seller and purchaser giving the buyer a ‘clear field’ to purchase the premises within a prescribed time frame. Essentially, a lock out agreement is a contract specifying that you will have a contract at a later time which is the main conveyancing contract. It is generally utilised for buyer assurance though in some cases, the seller may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are many positives and negatives to using an agreement but you should to check with your solicitor but note that it may result in costing you more in conveyancing charges. For this these agreements are not popular when it comes to conveyancing in Rossendale.

My colleague suggested that if I am buying in Rossendale I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Rossendale conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Rossendale around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Rossendale.

I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Rossendale. Now, I need my files however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Rossendale of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Rossendale. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Rossendale

Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.

What do I do if I am not happy with the property lawyer who conducted our conveyancing in Rossendale?

Occasionally the level of service you receive is not as you expect, and unfortunately sometimes things do go wrong. Nevertheless there is recourse if you were dissatisfied with your conveyancing in Rossendale. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a solicitor to their regulator. If things still aren’t resolved you may consider getting in touch with the Legal Ombudsman.