At what point does exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Durham and am I required to attend the conveyancers branch?

If you are round the corner to our conveyancing solicitors in Durham you are welcome to attend to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend offer a countrywide conveyancing service and provide just as comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The executing of the sale agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the conveyancer to exchange contracts at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a long "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Durham)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the Principality Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Durham?

First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.

I'm buying a new build house in Durham with a mortgage from Barclays . The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about the side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with Barclays . Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Are there any apps to assist me to search for a Durham solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 20miles to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the facility on this page. Please choose the bank and your location and you will see a number of Durham conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Durham conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to check whether they are on the Aldermore approved list

I am attracted to a two apartments in Durham which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Durham, conveyancing was carried out in 1998. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Durham with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2086

You have 63 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £16,200 and £18,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.