My wife and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a house in Albrighton and my mum and dad have sent the ten percent deposit to my lawyer. I am now told that as the deposit has not come from me my conveyancing practitioner needs to make a notification to my lender. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?

Your solicitor is duty bound to check with lender to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only notify this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

Having sold my house in Albrighton last February yet the purchaser is texting me to say his lawyer needs to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?

Post completion of your disposal your solicitor should forward the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Where relevant, your conveyancer should also evidence that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been repaid to the buyers conveyancers. There are no post completion procedures unique to conveyancing in Albrighton.

When it comes to lenders such as Principality, do Albrighton property lawyers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Yorkshire BS. I assume I don't need a Albrighton solicitor on the Yorkshire BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Yorkshire BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Yorkshire BS mortgage from the register. Yorkshire BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Yorkshire BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Yorkshire BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Albrighton property lawyer having checked that they are on the RBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Albrighton surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

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

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Albrighton. 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…’

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Albrighton with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Albrighton can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ conveyancers.
A minority of Albrighton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Albrighton leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance. Many freeholders or Management Companies in Albrighton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Albrighton. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

I inherited a 2 bed flat in Albrighton, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Albrighton with over 90 years remaining are worth £186,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2077

You have 52 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £29,500 and £34,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.