Our solicitor has identified a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Langley. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer says that he must be satisfied that the mortgage company is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

We are selling our house in Langley. Will my property lawyer have to be required to be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently at the moment.

Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Langley?

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Langley and Solicitor firms in Langley who can help with your conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of the home buying process. They may both also conduct associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.

We previously chose solicitors located in Langley on the Aldermore solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee for handling the Aldermore mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Aldermore?

Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. This charge is not set by Aldermore but by your Langley property lawyer. Some firms on the Aldermore panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

I'm spending time viewing houses in Langley and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have a solicitor on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Nationwide.

You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

Will my conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Langley.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors dealing with homes in Langley. Some people will acquire a property in Langley, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in Langley. The conventional set of property information forms sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual inquiry of the vendor to determine whether the premises has ever been flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the seller, then a purchaser could commence a legal claim for losses resulting from an incorrect reply. The purchaser’s lawyers will also order an enviro report. This will disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be carried out.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Langley. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Langley - 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.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Langley conveyancing firm to represent me?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Langley premises is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69 years.