Our Northamptonshire lawyer has uncovered a difference between the surveyor’s assumptions in the home valuation report and what is revealed within the title deeds. My lawyer has advised that he is obliged to ensure that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my conveyancer’s course or action legitimate?

Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.

My flat in Northamptonshire is up for sale and I have a purchaser. Does my property lawyer need to be required to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS 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 requirements fairly frequently at the moment.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Northamptonshire is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Northamptonshire are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Northamptonshire you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northamptonshire may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

As co-executor for the estate of my grandmother I am disposing of a residence in Swansea but reside in Northamptonshire. My conveyancer (approximately 260 miles awayrequires that I execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Northamptonshire to witness and place their company stamp on the document?

strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in Northamptonshire

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Northamptonshire. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Northamptonshire - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Northamptonshire - Examples of Queries before buying

The answer will be useful as a) areas could result in problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to know about it Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other significant cost is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared between the leaseholders and will dramatically increase the the maintenance costs or require a one time payment.