Some advice if I may. My Caerwys solicitor is advising me that he has toapply for Caerwys conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Santandersolicitor panel. Do I not have any options here?

Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a bank your conveyancing practitioner has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Caerwys conveyancing searches.

It is is a decade since I bought my home in Caerwys. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to find my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?

Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be retained by the lender or they could still be with the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Caerwys involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.

A friend suggested that if I am buying in Caerwys I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Caerwys conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Caerwys around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Caerwys Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Caerwys.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Caerwys. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Caerwys

There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Caerwys where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Caerwys conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Caerwys - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

What is the the remaining lease term? It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other significant cost is anticipated to be shared by the leaseholders and will dramatically impact the level of the service charges or result in a one time invoice. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?