I am one month into the sale of my flat in Griffithstown and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Griffithstown ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

My partner and I are refinancing our apartment in Griffithstown with HSBC. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your HSBC 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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 am purchasing a end of terrace house in Griffithstown. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will legal conveyancing on the property include investigations to determine if these alterations are allowed?

Your solicitor will review the registered title as conveyancing in Griffithstown can sometimes identify restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain changes or require the permission of a 3rd party. Certain works call for local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.

We were going to get a AIP from Principality this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Principality recommend any Griffithstown solicitors on the Principality conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?

You will need to appoint Griffithstown solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Principality conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Principality through the process.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Lloyds. I assume I don't need a Griffithstown property lawyer on the Lloyds panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Lloyds mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Lloyds mortgage from the register. Lloyds, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Lloyds has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Lloyds has instructed the Land Registry to do so

A friend advised me that if I am buying in Griffithstown I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Griffithstown conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Griffithstown around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Griffithstown Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Griffithstown.

I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Griffithstown. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Griffithstown ?

The majority of houses in Griffithstown are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Griffithstown in which case you should be looking for a Griffithstown conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Griffithstown Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders? How many years remain on the lease?