Completed the sale of my flat in Leicester last June but our buyer keeps telephoning me complaining that his lawyer is waiting to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?

Following your house sale your solicitor is committed to send the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your solicitor must also confirm that the home loan has been redeemed to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion formalities peculiar conveyancing in Leicester.

We just had an offer accepted to buy with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. We have called around locally yet am struggling to find a Leicester conveyancing firm on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel. Please you help?

Please do make the most of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this page. Please choose the building society and type Leicester or your preferred area and you will be presented with a number of lawyer located in Leicester or nearest you.

My wife and I own a renovated Victorian house in Leicester. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Leicester and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.

I'm converting the mortgage on my primary property to a buy to let loan with Yorkshire Building Society and intend to use the remaining equity towards a second property. The neighborhood we are looking at is Leicester. Will your conveyancers be able to act for both sets of banks and tie in the two deals?

Do use our comparison tool on this page to ensure that the conveyancers are approved by both mortgage companies. On the basis that they are the conveyancer will be able to connect the two conveyancing matters but you should have a chat with you solicitor and make clear your desired outcome and needs.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Leicester with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leicester can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Leicester conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Leicester - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the name of the managing agents? Most Leicester leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building set by the landlord. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, normally in instalments throughout the year. This could be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Are there any major works anticipated that could increase the maintenance fees?