Much to our surprise we have been informed by our lender that my Gedling property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I be sure whether this is correct?

The first thing you need to do is to call your Gedling lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Gedling conveyancing firm that is on the conveyancing panel for your bank.

My partner and I swapping mortgage lender for our penthouse in Gedling with Yorkshire BS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire BS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Yorkshire BS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I purchased a freehold residence in Gedling yet pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in Gedling and has limited impact for conveyancing in Gedling but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of new rentcharges post 1977.

Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.

We're in Gedling, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Lloyds , and our lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Gedling from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gedling can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ conveyancers.
Some Gedling leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Gedling conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Gedling, conveyancing having been completed July 2011. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Gedling with a long lease are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2084

With only 60 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.