Me and my partner are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Goddington with a mortgage. We have a Goddington conveyancer, however the mortgage company says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have little option but to appoint one of the bank panel firms or continue with our Goddington lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is unjust; can we not demand that the lender use our Goddington conveyancer ?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms 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 Goddington conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Me and my brother have a terraced Georgian property in Goddington. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Goddington and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and found one near me in Goddington I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Goddington in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

If you need a home loan that many years will be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.

What tools are available to identify a Goddington solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 20miles to meet the solicitor.

You can use the search on this page. Please choose the bank and your location and you will see a number of Goddington conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Goddington conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to see if they are on the Santander approved list

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Goddington from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Goddington can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Goddington state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved. The majority of landlords or Management Companies in Goddington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Goddington. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I have given up trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Goddington. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Goddington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Goddington flat is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 50.57 years.