My partner and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Sonning Common and are in fact using a Sonning Common conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Santander have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Sonning Common conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Sonning Common solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

I currently have a mortgage with Aldermore for my property in Sonning Common. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Aldermore?

You must advise Aldermore prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Aldermore directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel firm.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, HSBC are being problematic. The Sonning Common solicitor who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but HSBC are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do HSBC have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that HSBC have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why HSBC may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

My sealed bid on a house in Sonning Common has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The vendors have placed an offer on somewhere, but it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Sonning Common. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Santander started?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Sonning Common conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your solicitor is on the Santander approved list. Regarding the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market many home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Santander and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their conveyancing practitioner to move forward with the conveyancing in Sonning Common.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Sonning Common. Conveyancing is daunting 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 legal work.

Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Sonning Common

The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Sonning Common is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Sonning Common are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Sonning Common you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Sonning Common may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

What does commercial conveyancing in Sonning Common cover?

Non domestic conveyancing in Sonning Common incorporates a broad array of advice, offered by qualified solicitors, relating to business property. By way of example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the assignment of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of tenancies.