My colleague recommended that if I am purchasing in Macclesfield I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Macclesfield conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Macclesfield around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Macclesfield Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Macclesfield Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Macclesfield.

I have justfound out that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Macclesfield for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 10 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest way to see if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Macclesfield conveyancing specialists.

I have been pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Macclesfield to select a property lawyer using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your services rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t give any commission for directing people our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

Last April I purchased a leasehold house in Macclesfield. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Leasehold Conveyancing in Macclesfield - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Many Macclesfield leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Should you buy the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually periodically during the year. This could differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. Is the freehold owned jointly by the tenants? Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other significant cost is coming up that will be shared by the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the service charges or result in a specific payment.

We are hoping to acquire a repression flat in Macclesfield and the vendor require completion within a month. Do conveyancing practitioners meet that timeframe? Am I best advised to select a local Macclesfield firm or an online firm that professes to complete quickly?

Visit your Macclesfield shopping parade. Go in to a couple of companies and request to talk to a conveyancing solicitor for an estimate. Discuss your needs and seek assurances on deadlines. Select the one that comes across as most trustworthy. Make sure to use a lawyer on the panel of solicitors who can act for your lender.