I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in Consett and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Consett ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for many years.

Mortgage companies attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

I need some expedited conveyancing in Consett as I have pressure to complete within 2 weeks. A mortgage is not required. Can I escape the need for conveyancing searches to save fees and time?

As you are not taking a mortgage you have the choice not to do searches although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. With plenty of history conveyancing in Consett the following are instances of what can appear and therefore affect the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Fees, Outstanding Grants, Road Schemes,...

About to purchase a new build flat in Consett. 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 conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Consett

The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. 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.

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

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Consett can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
Some Consett leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 purchasers or their lawyers. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Consett conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Consett leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.

Consett Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Plenty Consett leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the flat you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a exorbitant figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Our estate agent has suggested using their conveyancing practitioner for our conveyancing in Consett - won’t it be advisable to just instruct them?

It is not always the case and you are entitled to use whichever conveyancing practitioner you decide for your Consett home move. A lawyer put forward by a 3rd party adviser may not always be the right lawyer, they may suggest their preferred conveyancing firm who are based far away. In this instance you may not have contact with your conveyancing practitioner and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain updates.