I am one month into the sale of my home in Honiton and the EA has just called to say that the buyers are appointing a new conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Honiton ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

Completed the sale of my flat in Honiton last April yet the purchaser is calling me to moan that their conveyancer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?

After completion of your house sale your conveyancer is committed to deliver the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's solicitors. Where relevant, your conveyancer must also send confirmation that the home loan has been repaid to the buyers lawyers. There are no post completion tasks specific conveyancing in Honiton.

I am looking for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Honiton I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Honiton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you require a home loan that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

My husband and I are first time buyers - agreed a price, yet the selling agent has warned us that the vendor will only go ahead if we appoint their preferred solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street conveyancer who is familiar with conveyancing in Honiton

It is unlikely the sellers are driving this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine buyer is not the way to achieve this. Contact the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to use your preferred Honiton conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing targets set by head office.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Honiton where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Honiton conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Honiton - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

The best form of lease structure is if the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Honiton obliged leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works.