My fiance and I are planning to acquire a flat in Helsby and have instructed a Helsby conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Helsby lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Helsby lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

What is the first thing I need to know about purchase conveyancing in Helsby?

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Helsby and elsewhere in Cheshire is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the house moving process. For example, the vendor, estate agent and even potentially a mortgage company. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Helsby is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the transaction whose interest is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.

There is a definite creep in the "blame" culture- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your solicitor above the other players in the conveyancing process.

Just bought a terraced house in Helsby , how long should it take for the Land Registry to deal with the formalities evidencing my ownership? My Helsby conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to check the post completion formalities are addressed.

As far as conveyancing in Helsby is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than the rest of England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry have to notify any third parties. Currently roughly 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to protracted hold-ups. Historically registration takes place after the buyer has moved in to the property therefore registration formalities is not always an essential issue yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer must speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

How do I identify a Helsby solicitor on the Coventry Building Society conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am willing to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the search on this page. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Helsby conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some Helsby conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can ring them to check if they are on the Coventry Building Society member panel

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Helsby. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Helsby who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Helsby conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Helsby Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

How many years remain on the lease? How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the service costs?