As someone not used to conveyancing in Paulton what’s the number one tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Paulton

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Paulton and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for friction between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. For instance, the vendor, selling agent and even potentially the lender. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Paulton an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the process whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a distinct creep in the "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer above all other players in the home moving process.

I am assisting my mother sell her flat in Paulton. Does the conveyancer arrange the EPC or it is for the owner to see to?

Following the demise of HIPs, energy performance certificates remained a compulsory part of selling a property. An EPC needs to be commissioned in advance of the property being placed on the market. It is not something that lawyers normally arrange. Where you are using a Paulton conveyancing practitioner they may be able to arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with long established Paulton energy assessors

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Paulton conveyancing practitioner on the HSBC panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your HSBC 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 HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, 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 HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Paulton. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A few days later, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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 have justbecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Paulton for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest way to check if the property 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 Paulton conveyancing specialists.

How does conveyancing in Paulton differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build residence in Paulton contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because house builders in Paulton usually purchase the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Paulton or who has acted in the same development.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Paulton I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Paulton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.