My partner and I are intent on buying an apartment in Henbury. My property lawyer has never been on on the bank solicitor list. Is it possible for me to use my Henbury conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?

Your options include

• Complete the purchase with your preferred Henbury solicitor but your mortgage company will no doubt appoint a property lawyer from their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional fees together with likely interruption.
• Get a new property lawyer to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancing practitioner to pull out all the stops to get listed on the mortgage company conveyancing panel

Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Henbury costs more?

Henbury leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Henbury 5 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?

In today’s world there are copies made of almost everything, and your solicitor should know exactly where to find all the suitable paperwork so you can purchase or dispose of your house without a hitch. Where copies can’t be located, your conveyancer can put in place insurance or indemnities against possible claims on the property.

I'm buying my first flat in Henbury benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Henbury. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Leasehold Conveyancing in Henbury - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably need a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for 24 months before you are legally able to extend the lease. How much is the ground rent and service charge? How is the lease structured?