My husband and I are looking to purchase a house in Kings Heath and have instructed a Kings Heath conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Kings Heath conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kings Heath solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require chancel insurance when buying a house in Kings Heath? or Apparently there is an ancient law that could mean that owners of property living in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards repairs to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this suitable for conveyancing in Kings Heath?

Unless a previous purchase of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you may take it that lawyers delivering conveyancing in Kings Heath to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Kings Heath?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Kings Heath. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Kings Heath in advance of retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will not grant a loan on such a house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Kings Heath. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

We expect to complete the sale of our £325,000 flat in Kings Heath next Friday. The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Kings Heath?

Kings Heath conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Kings Heath Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The majority of Kings Heath leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this charge, usually in instalments during the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a significant figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive. Does the lease include onerous restrictions?