My home in Bartley Green is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does the conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Yorkshire BS 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 requirements fairly frequently in recent years.

When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Bartley Green conveyancers incur a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?

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

My partner and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Kent Reliance as we wish to conduct a loft conversion to our home in Bartley Green. Do we need to choose a nearby Bartley Green solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Kent Reliance do not ordinarily require firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance list.

I have a mortgage with Nottingham for my property in Bartley Green. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Nottingham?

Your original mortgage agreement with Nottingham will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent 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 Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel lawyer.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Bartley Green I like with open areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bartley Green suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

We are a fortnight into a freehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the local agent to perform conveyancing in Bartley Green. I am am very frustrated with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?

They would have to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been generated? In the event that it has you will need to make them aware of the new contact details and have the offer are re-issued. Your new solicitor ideally should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating costs and complications. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The search tool will help you find a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Bartley Green

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bartley Green from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bartley Green can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors.
A minority of Bartley Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Bartley Green state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.

Bartley Green Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Please tell me if there are any major works in the planning that will likely add a premium to the service costs? In the main the outlay for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Bartley Green ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Who are the managing agents?