I was referred a lawyer who has sent a quote for £1150 for fixed fee conveyancing in Northumberland Heath. I am hoping to downsize from a modern detached home for £250,000. Are these estimated fees excessive? Is it above what I should be paying for conveyancing in Northumberland Heath?

The charges are a bit high. Where you are prepared to invest time scrutinising costs you may be able to get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by say £125. That being said, you maylive to regret opting for an a cheaper lawyer. Don't forget to be sure the conveyancer can also act for your mortgage company. You can make use of our search tool to choose a Northumberland Heath conveyancing practice on the lender’s approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Northumberland Heath.

Is there a search tool that I can utilise to discover of the solicitor conducting my conveyancing in Northumberland Heath is on the bank’sapproved panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Godiva Mortgages Ltd thus spending £187.00 plus VAT in additional conveyancing bill.

You should make the most of the search tool on this web page. Please choose the mortgage company and type ‘Northumberland Heath’ or your preferred area and you will see a number of lawyer based in Northumberland Heath or by proximity to you.

My uncle informed me that in purchasing a property in Northumberland Heath there could be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of anumerous of properties in Northumberland Heath which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Northumberland Heath should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I am purchasing a property in Northumberland Heath. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Leeds Building Society be concerned?

Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Leeds Building Society your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements contained in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Leeds Building Society. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Leeds Building Society where a lease fails to satisfy these conditions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not restricted to Northumberland Heath.

The mortgage over my property is with Kent Reliance for my property in Northumberland Heath. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Kent Reliance?

Kent Reliance must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Kent Reliance’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Kent Reliance will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Kent Reliance directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor.

3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Northumberland Heath completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

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

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Northumberland Heath can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ solicitors.
In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Northumberland Heath state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand. The majority of freeholders or Management Companies in Northumberland Heath levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Northumberland Heath. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential 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 you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Northumberland Heath. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Northumberland Heath property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.