I am considering mortgaging my house in Kings Langley, does my lawyer have to be on the UBS Conveyancing panel?

In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the UBS conveyancing panel, but UBS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.

Is it correct that all Kings Langley CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Principality conveyancing list of approved solicitors?

It is true that some banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to remain on their panels.

My wife and I are spending time viewing houses in Kings Langley and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have my conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a home loan with RBS.

It would be sensible to commence your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with RBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the RBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Kings Langley. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Kent Reliance panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Kings Langley in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to issue a loan on a flying freehold premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Kings Langley. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Kings Langley especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Kings Langley.

I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for freehold conveyancing in Kings Langley. I happened to stumble across a site which seems to have the ideal solution If it is possible to get all the legals done via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Kings Langley garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Kings Langley conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Kings Langley do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Kings Langley Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the maintenance costs? The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. On the whole the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Kings Langley require leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance.