My wife and I are planning to buy a property in Kingsbridge and have appointed a Kingsbridge conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Kingsbridge lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer should contact your bank 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 Kingsbridge lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

We have agreed to purchase a house in Kingsbridge. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As your lender is your lawyer must follow the formal instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for . The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and are required to report to where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Kingsbridge.

It is not clear whether my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Kingsbridge bank branch on various occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Kingsbridge conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called and was told they will not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.

Your has to follow the CML Handbook section two requirements for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Kingsbridge. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their . I paid an advanced payment of £225. Soon after, the contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Kingsbridge I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Kingsbridge in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

Should you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

I am using a search engine for the words on line conveyancing in Kingsbridge it brings up numerous property lawyersin the area. With so much choice what is the best way to find the suitable conveyancing solicitor for me?

The best method of choosing the right conveyancer is through a trusted recommendation, so enquire of colleagues and those you trust who have purchased a property in Kingsbridge or the respected estate agent or financial adviser. Charges for conveyancing in Kingsbridge vary, so it's advisable to secure a minimum of three fee estimates from different conveyancers. Make sure that you know that the charges are assured not to escalate.

I own a leasehold house in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing and mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Kingsbridge who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Kingsbridge conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Kingsbridge - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Plenty Kingsbridge leasehold apartments will have a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the freeholder. Should you purchase the flat you will have to meet this amount, normally in instalments accross the year. This may vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive. This information is useful as a) areas can cause problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to know about it How much is the ground rent and service charge?