I am progressing with the sale of my home in Aldersbrook and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the lender will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Aldersbrook ?

UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

My wife and I are buying a house in Aldersbrook. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I just bought a house at auction in Aldersbrook. Conveyancing is required. What is next?

Having for all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you should hire the services of a conveyancing solicitor soon as you will have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will have a bespoke legal pack. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the legal papers should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You should pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that you have funds organised to complete on the on the contractual date .

We are buying a detached bungalow in Aldersbrook. We would like to convert the garage to a playroom at the property.Will legal investigations on the property include investigations to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?

Your solicitor should check the registered title as conveyancing in Aldersbrook will on occasion identify restrictions in the title deeds which prevent categories of alterations or need the consent of another owner. Some extensions require local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be sensible to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Aldersbrook prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks may not issue a loan on a flying freehold house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Aldersbrook. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the selling agent advised that the vendor will only move forward if we appoint the agent's recommended solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family conveyancer who is familiar with conveyancing in Aldersbrook

We suspect that the owner is not behind this ultimatum. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious buyer is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the owners direct and make the point that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to instruct your own,trusted Aldersbrook conveyancing firm - as opposed tothe ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds set by senior management.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Aldersbrook. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Aldersbrook - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Following years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Aldersbrook. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Aldersbrook conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Aldersbrook residence is 9 Granville Road in June 2014. The tribunal determines the enfranchisement price payable by the applicants for the freehold was £32,548 This case was in relation to 5 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.8 years.