What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in Lisvane?

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Lisvane and elsewhere in Cardiff is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the house moving process. For instance, the seller, property agent and on occasion a lender. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Lisvane an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose responsibility is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.

There is a definite emergence of a "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor above the other parties in the conveyancing process.

When it comes to lenders such as Coventry BS, do Lisvane solicitors face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Lisvane property lawyer on the Barclays panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Barclays mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Lisvane solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Lisvane postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Lisvane.

What can a local search reveal regarding the house I am purchasing in Lisvane?

Lisvane conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Onsearch The local search plays an important part in most Lisvane conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.

I purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Lisvane. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Aldermore. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Lisvane and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

I have finally had an offer on an apartment in Lisvane agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have put an offer on a property, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other properties in the pipeline. I have instructed a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Lisvane. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with Kent Reliance started with Kent Reliance?

It is understandable to have concerns where there is an associated chain given your reluctance to incur expenses prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Lisvane conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to check that your property lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent stages this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of purchasers will apply for a home loan with Kent Reliance and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with searches.