We were just about to exchange contracts for a property in Hartlepool. We encountered a snag. Our mortgage offer with Virgin Money runs out on 24/1/2025 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 28/1/2025. Is it possible to extend the loan offer?

The person best placed to address this concern is your lawyer who will determine if he or she is should be discussing with the lender, vendor’s lawyers, selling agents or indeed all parties given the circumstances your house move as of today.

My friend advised me that if I am purchasing in Hartlepool I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Hartlepool conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Hartlepool around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Hartlepool Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Hartlepool.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Hartlepool in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Hartlepool. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Hartlepool to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

What are the frequently found deficiencies that you witness in leases for Hartlepool properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Hartlepool is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a studio flat in Hartlepool, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Hartlepool with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2084

With 60 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

My aim is to purchase a ground floor maisonette in Hartlepool. Conveyancing solicitor has been waiting for, from the vendor, building insurance paperwork. This afternoon I was advised that the seller needs to send the insurance documents for the flat above as well. Why does my property lawyer want to see the insurance for the other flat? Is it really required? We have been in hold for the last three weeks…

It is not impossible in leasehold conveyancing in Hartlepool to find Conveyancing in Hartlepool in a minority of cases reveals that the lease obliges the tenant's to insure their individual flats rather than the freeholder insuring the complete building - which is definitely preferable. You should contact your property lawyer but it would seem that your conveyancer is seeking to verify that the complete building is insured. Insuring your residence is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the 1st floor cannot be reinstated due to lack of insurance cover.