I am assisting my mother sell her flat in Beacontree Heath. Does the conveyancer commission the EPC or do I organise this?

Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates became a required part of moving property. An energy performance certificate should be commissioned in advance of the property being put on the market. This is not a task that lawyers normally organise. Where you are using a Beacontree Heath conveyancing practitioner they might help arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with long established Beacontree Heath providers

My husband and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Aldermore as we intend to carry out renovations to our house in Beacontree Heath. Are we obliged to appoint a local Beacontree Heath solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

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

The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore for my property in Beacontree Heath. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Aldermore?

You must advise Aldermore before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’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 Aldermore directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel firm.

What does a local search inform me about the house my wife and I buying in Beacontree Heath?

Beacontree Heath conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Xpress Legal The local search plays a central part in most Beacontree Heath conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.

I am looking into buying my first house which is in Beacontree Heath and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Beacontree Heath. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Beacontree Heath area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Beacontree Heath. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found

We're first time buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the property agent advised that the vendor will only proceed if we appoint their recommended conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Beacontree Heath

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. If they want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to instruct your own,trusted Beacontree Heath conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthose that will give the estate agent a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds pre-set by corporate headquarters.

Why do Beacontree Heath conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?

When buying a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control