My solicitor has identified a defect with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Caversham Heights. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our says that he must check that the lender is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?

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

My flat in Caversham Heights is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will my need to be required to be on the conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently currently.

If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Caversham Heights what would it be?

Do not opt for the cheapest Caversham Heights conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

My aunt advised me that in buying a property in Caversham Heights there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Caversham Heights which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Caversham Heights should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Caversham Heights. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Soon after, the called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the 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 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 am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one close by in Caversham Heights I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Caversham Heights suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.

What is the best way of identifying a cost effective conveyancing in Caversham Heights?

Option 1 is to ask the people you trust who they used in the past and if they were happy with the service. Option 2 is to look on the web for conveyancing in Caversham Heights. Phone a couple or more firms from the list and request that they send you their conveyancing fees and speak to the lawyer who will handle your conveyancing before you commit. Third is to make use of this site to assist you in finding the right solicitors taking into account your unique requirements including location,speed, complexity and who the proposed lender is.Avoid the trap of appointing £99 conveyancing solicitors in Caversham Heights