We are planning to buy a 2 bedroom flat in St Brides Major with a mortgage. We have a St Brides Major lawyer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or keep our St Brides Major solicitor as well as pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to insist that the lender use our St Brides Major lawyer ?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your St Brides Major conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I am acquiring a house for cash in St Brides Major. I have been living for the last twelve years in St Brides Major. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a home loan, then the vast majority of the St Brides Major conveyancing searches are optional. Your lawyer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but she has a professional duty to do this. Do consider; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it will be of relevance to your future purchaser what the searches disclose. There are plenty of instances where houses with apparent issues can still throw up negative search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in St Brides Major should provide you some sensible advice here.

three months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in St Brides Major completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in St Brides Major where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local St Brides Major conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Brides Major - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Its a good idea to find out as much as you can about the company managing the building as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. On a final note, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? It would be wise to investigate if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is very common in St Brides Major leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in St Brides Major. If you like the apartmentin St Brides Major yet your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a difficult decision.

Please set out some of specific benefits to instructing a local lawyer in St Brides Major

Home movers in St Brides Major opt for a local solicitor so that they can visit just in case they have problems, and to deliver documents rather taking the chance in relying on the Royal Mail.

There is a distinct advantage in using a solicitor nearby to a property you are purchasing, due to the in-depth knowledge of the area and possible local issues - but this is debatable. Many conveyancers are now by way of email and could be based anywhere.