My husband and I are purchasing a ground floor flat in Cheetham. My property lawyer has never been on on the bank approved list. Can I still appoint my Cheetham conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

You have numerous choices available to you here

• Carry on with your existing Cheetham lawyer but your bank will no doubt appoint a conveyancer from their approved list. The net result is additional fees together with probable interruption.
• Choose a fresh property lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancing practitioner to do everything within their powers to get accepted on the lender’s panel of solicitors

My fiance and I are refinancing our penthouse in Cheetham with RBS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the RBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of RBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but reside in Cheetham. My lawyer (based 235 miles awayrequires that I execute a statutory declaration ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Cheetham who can witness and place their company stamp on the document?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Cheetham

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cheetham from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cheetham can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Cheetham leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance. If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled. A minority of Cheetham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

Cheetham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Its a good idea to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily matters such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours if they are happy with them. Finally, be sure you understand the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes. Who are the managing agents? Can you inform me if there are any major works anticipated that could add a premium to the service fees?

How up-to-date is your search tool for the mortgage company conveyancing panel in Cheetham? Do the banks send you an updated list?

Cheetham law firm practices and firms conducting conveyancing in Cheetham themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the lender conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the bank directly.