I am in the process of mortgaging my home in Manselton, does my lawyer need to be on the Clydesdale Solicitor panel?

There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Clydesdale will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.

I am the only recipient of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Manselton. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be considered the same way as though I had purchased the house in October. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. Some lenders would take a practical view as this provision chiefly exists to capture subsales or the flipping of property.

Are all Manselton Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing list of approved firms?

Some major banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their approved list of firms.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Manselton. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Not long after, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.

I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Manselton and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Manselton conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using an online conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Manselton. Having lived in Manselton for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)

My husband and I are a fortnight into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the local agent to do our conveyancing in Manselton. I am not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?

They would have to be very bad in order to consider replacing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? If so you will need to inform them of the new lawyer and get the mortgage documents are re-sent. The solicitor ideally should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating costs and complications. So that should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool will assist you in finding a bank approved lawyer for your home move in Manselton

I work for a long established estate agent office in Manselton where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Manselton conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Manselton Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

It is important to be aware if a new roof is being installed or some other significant cost is due shortly to be shared by the leaseholders and could well materially impact the level of the service fees or require a one time invoice. Is there a share of the freehold? The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees enjoy control and even though a managing agent is often retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.