My flat in Hawarden is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does my conveyancer have to be required to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.

My wife and I purchasing a terrace house in Hawarden. We would like to carry out a loft conversion at the property.Will the conveyancing process involve checks to determine if these works were previously refused?

Your solicitor should check the deeds as conveyancing in Hawarden will occasionally reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain alterations or need the permission of another owner. Some extensions call for local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in Hawarden on the Clydesdale solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental fee for the legal aspects of the Clydesdale mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Clydesdale?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your property lawyer can levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Clydesdale but by your Hawarden conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Clydesdale panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Hawarden lawyer having checked that they are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Leeds Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Leeds Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Hawarden surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Hawarden I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hawarden suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities 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 solicitor about this.

Is it simple use the search tool to select a conveyancing lawyer in Hawarden on the panel for my mortgage?

1st pick a lender such as Birmingham Midshires, Bank of Scotland or Platform Home Loans Ltd then specify your location e.g. Hawarden. Conveyancing organisations in Hawarden and nationally should be shown.

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Hawarden. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all rents and service charges will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Hawarden, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Hawarden with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2091

You have 66 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.