My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Underwood and have appointed a Underwood conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nationwide Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Underwood conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Underwood solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

We had chosen conveyancers located in Underwood on the Nottingham solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a supplemental amount for dealing with the Nottingham mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Nottingham?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by Nottingham but by your Underwood property lawyer. Numerous firms on the Nottingham panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

We have agreed to purchase a house in Underwood. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Santander have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander your lawyer must check the formal requirements set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Santander. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Santander where a lease fails to comply with these conditions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Underwood.

Planning on purchasing a house in Underwood. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Clydesdale 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 Underwood conveyancing practitioner is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Underwood. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Underwood

Please supply a car parking plan. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Underwood where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Underwood conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 buyer 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.

An alternative approach is 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 Underwood - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Can you inform me if there are any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the maintenance fees? Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other major work is coming up that will be shared amongst the leasehold owners and could well materially increase the the maintenance charges or result in a one time payment. Who manages the building?

Do I have to visit the offices of the lender conveyancing panel solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Underwood so that I can attend their offices if necessary.

As opposed to twenty years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Underwood.