My husband and I are planning to buy a house in Darnall and are in fact using a Darnall conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Darnall solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Darnall solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Our conveyancer has uncovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Darnall. The seller’s lawyers have suggested defective title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that he must ensure that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home are lost. The conveyancers who conducted the conveyancing in Darnall 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?

Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your proprietorship will be recorded by HMLR under a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and secure up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for £20 inclusive of VAT.

About to purchase a new build flat in Darnall. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

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

Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared.

What type of property do your Darnall conveyancing estimates relate to?

The quotes provided are only appropriate to standard domestic property in England & Wales. Where you have any different requirements for instance industrial or agricultural land or commercial conveyancing in Darnall you should contact us to consider this further .