I am not well enough to travel far from Taunton. I would like to know the reason why all Taunton solicitors aren't included on all mortgage company panels?

Lenders tend to impose restrictions on either the type or volume of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. Frequent examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm needs to have at least two partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some building societies made a decision to restrict the size of their panel they allow to act for them. You should note that mortgage companies have no responsibility for the quality of conveyancing supplied by any Taunton conveyancing practitioner on their approved list. Mortgage fraud was the primary trigger for the reduction of conveyancing panels in the last decade notwithstanding that there are conflicting points of view about whether solicitors sat at the center of that fraud. Data published by HM Land Registry exposes that thousands of law organisations only carry out one or two conveyances annually. Those advocating conveyancing panel culls ask why law firms deserve claim to remain on a conveyancing panel when clearly property law is not their speciality?

The owners of the home we are hoping to buy hired a conveyancing practitioner in Taunton who has suggested a preliminary agreement with a non-refundable deposit 10k. Are such agreements sensible?

Lock out agreements are contracts binding a property owner and purchaser granting the buyer a ‘clear field’ to purchase the property for a certain period of time. Essentially, a lock out is a document specifying that you should be issued with a contract at a later date which is the contract for the actual sale. It is generally used for buyer assurance though in some cases, the vendor may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are various pros and cons to having them but you need to check with your conveyancer but note that it may end up incurring extra in conveyancing charges. For this these contracts are unusual in relation to conveyancing in Taunton.

I am the registered owner of a freehold property in Taunton but still invoiced for rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Taunton and has limited impact for conveyancing in Taunton but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of new rentcharges post 1977.

Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 will be extinguished.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Taunton I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Taunton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

Hoping to buy a property located in Taunton and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Taunton. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Taunton area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Taunton. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found