I am obtaining a offer of a home loan from Santander. I intend to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Foots Cray. Does the Santander Conveyancing panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?

The Santander approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.

we are a couple who decided to purchase a newly converted apartment in Foots Cray with a loan from .We would like to retain our Foots Cray conveyancing solicitor but informed us his firm is not listed on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a panel lawyer or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you contains terms and conditions, a common one being that lawyers will be on the solicitor panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one near me in Foots Cray I like with a park and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Foots Cray for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the estate agent has warned us that the vendor will only issue a contract if we use the agent's chosen conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Foots Cray

It is improbable the owners are behind this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious buyer is going to damage their objectives. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to instruct your own,trusted Foots Cray conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthose that will provide their estate agent a referral fee or hit his conveyancing thresholds set by corporate headquarters.

I purchased a basement flat in Foots Cray, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Foots Cray with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 50

With only 50 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £36,100 and £41,800 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.