It has come to my attention via my mortgage broker that my Barry solicitor is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. How can I check?

The best course of action for you to take is to call your Barry conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your lender.

My home in Barry is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will the conveyancer need to be required to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.

is it true that all Barry solicitor firms on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Bank of Ireland approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.

My wife and I are in the throws of viewing apartments in Barry and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it wise to have my property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Nationwide.

It would be advisable to start 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 pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.

Planning on purchasing a maisonette in Barry. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Barry solicitor is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.

In my capacity as executor for the will of my grandfather I am selling a property in Cardiff but live in Barry. My lawyer (based 200 miles awayrequires that I execute a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Barry who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?

Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in Barry

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Barry. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have recently received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you discharge the service charge as you normally would given that all rents and service invoices will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Barry - Examples of Queries before buying

Plenty Barry leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the management company. Where you buy the apartment you will have to pay this liability, normally in instalments during the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a significant amount, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. For most Barry leaseholds the outlay for major works are not incorporated into the maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Barry obliged tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for major repairs or maintenance.