I plan on acquiring a maisonette in Braintree. My property lawyer is not listed on the lender conveyancing panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my Braintree conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the lender approved list?

You will need to appoint a solicitor to deal with the legal work required if you need a mortgage to buy your home. The conveyancer will carry out all the relevant due diligence on the property, ensuring that you will be registered as proprietor and ensure that all the necessary mortgage paperwork is in order. One may appoint a Braintree solicitor of your choosing. Nevertheless, where the conveyancing practitioner appointed is not a member of the mortgage company approved list further fees will be incurred as separate legal representation will be required by them. Conveyancing panel applications can be submitted, so provided your conveyancer has not in the past sought membership they should take the opportunity to apply.

I am buying a house for cash in Braintree. I have been living for the last twelve years in Braintree. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I know the road and vicinity very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then all but one or two of the Braintree conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house in the future, it may be of importance to your prospective purchaser what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where houses with functional issues can still throw up unexpected search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Braintree should provide you some sensible guidance concerning this.

I bought my house on 5 March and the transaction details is yet to be registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Braintree said it would be concluded inside ten days. Are properties in Braintree uniquely lengthy to register?

As far as conveyancing in Braintree is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. Rather than based on location, timeframes can differ depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd persons or bodies. Currently roughly three quarters of submission are completed within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive delays. Historically registration occurs after the new owner is living at the premises therefore an expedited registration is not usually primary concern yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Braintree before retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks tend not grant a loan on a flying freehold house.

It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Braintree. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Braintree to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

I am intending to let out my leasehold flat in Braintree. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Your lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Braintree do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Braintree - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

It would be prudent to discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Braintree. If you love the apartmentin Braintree however your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very difficult decision. Best to be warned if fixing the lift or some other significant cost is pending to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and may well dramatically increase the the maintenance costs or require a one off payment. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?