It has come to my attention via my broker that my Yardley property lawyer is not on the lender Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?

Your first step should be to contact your Yardley lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.

We're in Yardley, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Principality , and our solicitor is on the Principality conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

My uncle pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Yardley there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to the property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in Yardley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Yardley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

Is it correct that all Yardley CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel?

It is true that some banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.

My offer was accepted on a property in Yardley on 11/11/2024, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Are TSB entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am looking into buying my first house which is in Yardley and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Yardley. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Yardley area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

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

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Yardley which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Yardley. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Yardley - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Be sure to find out if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Yardley. If you like the apartmentin Yardley however your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult choice. Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will likely add a premium to the maintenance charges? You should be aware that where the lease has less than 80 years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. For most Yardleylease extensions you will be required to have owned the property for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.