I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Seascale and the EA has just telephoned to say that the buyers are changing their law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Seascale ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some 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 unlikely to have any impact on this.

Do lenders provide you with an approved list of Seascale conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel?

Seascale conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Bank of Ireland directly.

The Seascale conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Seascale have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Skipton conveyancing panel and my preferred Seascale lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What should be my next steps?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Skipton conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.

I am purchasing a new build house in Seascale with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it could adversely affect my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Seascale both have approximately fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Seascale is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Seascale conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Seascale Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Generally speaking the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Seascale require leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future to be shared between the leasehold owners and will dramatically increase the the maintenance costs or result in a one time payment. How much is the ground rent and service charge?