Our solicitor has uncovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Fleet. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must ensure that the lender is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. 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 property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

At what point will exchange of contracts happen for residential conveyancing in Fleet and am I required to be at the conveyancers office?

Where you are in close proximity to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Fleet you are invited in to sign the paperwork. That being said, the firms we work with provide countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give just as detailed and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The signing of the property agreement is not the critical part. A signed contract simply enables the solicitor to officially exchange at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Fleet)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

My aunt informed me that in purchasing a property in Fleet there may be a number of restrictions preventing external changes to the property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Fleet which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Fleet should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

Is there a list of Kent Reliance panel conveyancers in Fleet on the Building Society Association’s Website?

Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of banks make their panel listings open the public online. If you are seeking to appoint a Fleet lawyer on the Kent Reliance please use our tool.

We had selected solicitors with offices in Fleet on the Yorkshire BS solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional amount for dealing with the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Yorkshire BS?

Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your Fleet solicitor. Numerous firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Fleet I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Fleet suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?

If you require a home loan that many years will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.

Do I need to have a meeting at the offices of the bank conveyancing panel solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Fleet so that I can attend their offices when needed.

As opposed to ten years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Fleet.