Our solicitor has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Caerwent. The seller’s lawyers have suggested defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer has advised that he must ensure that the lender is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?

Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the lender does not mean to say that the property will meet their specifications for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the mortgage company are the client. The appropriate lender specifications must be adhered to.

I'm the only beneficiary of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Caerwent. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in August. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. Some banks would take a pragmatic view as this requirement chiefly exists to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Caerwent conveyancing practitioner on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I have finally had an offer on an apartment in Caerwent accepted, the owners do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The vendors have offered on a flat, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Caerwent. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with UBS going?

It is usual to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Caerwent conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should check that your property lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent stages this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for the mortgage with UBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their property lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Caerwent.

My wife and I are selling our property in Caerwent and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed an internet conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Caerwent. We have lived in Caerwent for 4 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)

three months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Caerwent completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Caerwent I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Caerwent suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.