Me and my partner are purchasing a leasehold flat in Houghton Regis. My Solicitor is not on the mortgage company conveyancing list. Am I still permitted to retain my Houghton Regis conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Various options include

• Proceed with your chosen Houghton Regis but your bank will need to instruct a on their approved panel. The net result is additional cost and probable frustration.
• Choose a fresh to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
• Convince your solicitor to pull out all the stops to get listed on the bank’s conveyancing panel

Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Houghton Regis costs more?

In short, leasehold conveyancing in Houghton Regis and elsewhere usually warrants extra hours of investigation compared to freehold transactions. This includes analysing the lease terms, communicating with the landlord about the service of appropriate notices, procuring up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – no matter how many different leaseholders have owned the lease since it was first granted.

Having spent time researching mumsnet.com for an affordable solicitor in Houghton Regis, many post that I must instruct a CQS assured lawyer. What is CQS?

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * compliance with best practice conveyancing processes via the scheme protocol the standard includes numerous firms who handle conveyancing in Houghton Regis.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Houghton Regis. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Houghton Regis - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Houghton Regis - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Who is in charge of the block? Its a good idea to discover as much as you can about the managing agents as they will either make living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of other tenants whether they are happy with their management. In conclusion, be sure you discover the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money.

A licensed conveyancer dealt with my conveyancing in Houghton Regis 5 years past and was holding my deeds but has since been shut down – What steps do I now take to retreive them?

Deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Houghton Regis are registered electronically at Land Registry. Where you need to show ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your will need to obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.