What does a local search reveal regarding the house I am buying in Greater Manchester?

Greater Manchester conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as PSG The local search is essential in every Greater Manchester conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic headings.

My wife and I have a terraced Victorian property in Greater Manchester. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Greater Manchester 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 question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Greater Manchester is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Greater Manchester are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Greater Manchester you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Greater Manchester may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

Am I best advised to instruct a Greater Manchester conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can conduct the legal formalities but her office is a couple of hundredkilometers drive away.

The primary upside of using a local Greater Manchester conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign paperwork, present your identification documents and pester them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and they were content that must trump using an unfamiliar Greater Manchester conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Greater Manchester. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the service charge as usual because all ground rent and service charges will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I acquired a split level flat in Greater Manchester, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Greater Manchester with an extended lease are worth £202,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2079

With 57 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.