My partner and I are hoping to purchase a house in Barrow In Furness and have instructed a Barrow In Furness conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays Direct have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Barrow In Furness solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Barrow In Furness solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Barrow In Furness with Co-operative. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Co-operative conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Co-operative. This is solely used to protect Co-operative if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Co-operative had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I purchased a freehold property in Barrow In Furness but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in Barrow In Furness and has limited impact for conveyancing in Barrow In Furness but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 will be extinguished.

Have purchased a a semi-detached house in Barrow In Furness , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to deal with the formalities evidencing my proprietorship? My Barrow In Furness conveyancing solicitor has been very slow, so I want to be certain the registration is addressed.

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Barrow In Furness registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can vary according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any interested persons or bodies. Currently roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration takes place after the new owner is living at the property thus post completion formalities is not usually an essential issue but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor must speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

My fiance and I may need to sub-let our Barrow In Furness garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Barrow In Furness conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Barrow In Furness do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Barrow In Furness, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2001. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Barrow In Furness with a long lease are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2084

With just 60 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.