I am buying a leasehold flat in Harpenden. My property lawyer is not on the lender approved panel. Is it possible for me to appoint my Harpenden conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the lender panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Various options include

• Complete the purchase with your preferred Harpenden property lawyer but your lender will need to use a conveyancing practitioner on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional charges together with likely delay.
• Appoint a new solicitor to act in the purchase, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your solicitor to pull out all the stops to get listed on the mortgage company panel of solicitors

Completed the sale of my flat in Harpenden last October but the buyer keeps telephoning me to moan that his solicitor needs to hear from myconveyancer. What should have happened following completion?

Following your sale your lawyer is committed to forward the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Where appropriate, your solicitor must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers conveyancers. There are no post completion tasks peculiar conveyancing in Harpenden.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Harpenden. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Harpenden

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.

Are there any apps to help locate a Harpenden law firm on the TSB conveyancing panel? I have a car and am happy to travel upto 20kilometers to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the facility on this website. Please choose the mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Harpenden conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some Harpenden conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can telephone them to verify if they are on the TSB member panel

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harpenden with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harpenden can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ solicitors.
A minority of Harpenden leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Harpenden conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Harpenden, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2010. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Harpenden with a long lease are worth £265,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2101

With just 76 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.