My husband and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Virgin Money as we wish to conduct improvements to our property in Callerton. Are we obliged to choose a local Callerton solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Virgin Money don't usually require firms on their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Virgin Money panel.

I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Callerton. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Lloyds?

Your original mortgage agreement with Lloyds will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’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 Lloyds directly. You need not do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel firm.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Callerton. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £150. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I need some expedited conveyancing in Callerton as I am under a deadline to sign on the dotted line inside one month. Fortunately I do not require a mortgage. Can I decline from having conveyancing searches to save money and time?

If.Given you are are a mortgage free purchaser you are at free not to do searches although no law firm would advise that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Callerton the following are instances of what can show up and therefore impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Outstanding Grants, Unadopted Roads,...

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one near me in Callerton I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Callerton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

Should I use a Callerton conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? An old friend can deal with the legal formalities however his firm is located 400kilometers drive away.

The primary upside of using a local Callerton conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Callerton know how is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that should surpass using an unknown Callerton conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being based in the area.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Callerton. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay the maintenance contribution as normal because all rents and service invoices should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I bought a 1st floor flat in Callerton, conveyancing formalities finalised November 2004. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Callerton with an extended lease are worth £222,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2096

With 71 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.