Should lawyers ask for money up-front for my conveyancing in Bickley?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bickley your solicitor will ask you put them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is payable against the sale price then this will be asked for immediately in advance of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is due will be payable shortly before completion.

I happen to be the only recipient of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Bickley. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in September. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be considered the same way as though I had purchased the house in September. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this requirement principally exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.

I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Bickley conveyancer on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your RBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your RBS mortgage has been paid off.

I can not fathom if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Bickley bank branch on various occasions and was advised it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Bickley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

The property lawyer has to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 requirements for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Bickley I like with amenity areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bickley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

Completion is due on the disposal of our £400,000 garden flat in Bickley on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Bickley?

Bickley conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves administration charges levied by management companies :

Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions Where consent is required before sale in Bickley Copies of the building insurance and schedule Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bickley leasehold premises is £350. For Bickley conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

Having spent years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bickley. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bickley flat is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.

I require the services of a mortgage company panel solicitor in Bickley. Can you assist?

It is not clear why you need a Bickley panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to the mortgage company to find out which solicitors in Bickley are on their panel . If you do find such a firm in Bickley not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site