I am buying a victorian detached house in Congleton. The intention is to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will legal investigations on the property include enquiries to determine if these alterations are prohibited?

Your property lawyer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Congleton can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title documents which prohibit categories of works or necessitated the permission of another owner. Some extensions need local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be sensible to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

When it comes to lenders such as TSB, do Congleton conveyancing practitioners incur a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are unaware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Congleton. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat 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 in advance of renting 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.

Do I need to take out insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a property in Congleton?

Unless a previous acquisition of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you can take it that lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Congleton to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Congleton I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Congleton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

Am I right to be wary that brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Congleton conveyancing firm?

As with lots of service providers, often referrals from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. Yet there are lots of players in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders may recommend lawyers to instruct. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there might be a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are free to choose your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that the majority of banks have an approved list of conveyancers you must use for the mortgage aspect of your house move.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Congleton with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Congleton can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers’ representatives.
If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Congleton home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. Some Congleton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

I purchased a ground floor flat in Congleton, conveyancing was carried out October 2005. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Congleton with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2088

With only 67 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.